Study: Welfare pays more than work in most states
4:17 PM 08/20/2013

Michael Bastasch


Looking for a good paying job? Well, look no further.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzGoDtmTllg&feature=player_embedded


No, really, stop looking. In 35 states, welfare benefits pay more than a minimum wage job, according to a new study by the libertarian Cato Institute, and in 13 states welfare pays more than $15 per hour.

“One of the single best ways to climb out of poverty is taking a job, but as long as welfare provides a better standard of living than an entry-level job, recipients will continue to choose it over work,” said Michael Tanner, senior policy analyst and co-author of the study.

The study is an updated version of one Tanner put out in 1995 that estimated the full value of welfare benefits packages across the states. The 1995 study found that such tax-free welfare benefits greatly exceeded the poverty level and “their dollar value was greater than the amount of take-home income a worker would receive from an entry-level job.”

Despite efforts to curb welfare spending, many welfare programs and benefits have continued to outpace the income that many workers can receive for working an entry-level job, which disincentivizes work, according to the study.

“The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work,” reads the study. “Welfare currently pays more than a minimum-wage job in 35 states, even after accounting for the Earned Income Tax Credit, and in 13 states it pays more than $15 per hour.”

According to the study, the federal government funds 126 separate programs designed to support low-income earners. Seventy-two of these programs provide cash or in-kind benefits to recipients. This is on top of additional welfare programs operated by state and local governments.

Welfare recipients in Hawaii get the most benefits, according to Tanner, at $29.13 per hour — or $60,590 pre-tax income annually. However, the state’s minimum wage is only $7.25 per hour, according to the Labor Department. Hawaiians on welfare also earn 167 percent of the median salary in the state, which is only $36,275.

The District of Columbia, Massachusetts and Connecticut have the next more generous welfare benefits.

D.C. welfare recipients can earn $24.43 per hour. In Massachusetts they can get $24.30 per hour. In Connecticut welfare recipients can receive $21.33 per hour.

“If Congress and state legislatures are serious about reducing welfare dependence and rewarding work, they should consider strengthening welfare work requirements, removing exemptions, and narrowing the definition of work,” says the study.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/08/20/study-welfare-pays-more-than-work-in-most-states/#ixzz2cbzf9bVu

I refuse to let this ruin my day!!:

Me either.
Seeing your picture makes my day!

((((((((-C-))))))))

And welfare recipients and illegals are exempt from Obamacare taxes.
So we who pay taxes can pay for their medical expenses too.

how about MY pic?

That's not your picture...

right...the color is wrong

i'm not sure how true that article is... in texas, they pay like 60% of the money at your last job... so if it was minimum wage, you would get less than minimum wage...

that last time i was on it, a few years ago, they told me my ex-employer didn't pay into it, so i was allotted about 480 dollars a month...

much less than what article is saying...

ugh... put some silver and stars instead of that ugly blue and red....

something is wrong in denmrk,,

doing the math,,,working 40 hrs per week 4 weeks month

gives us base of 160 hours per month

now,, for a state to be paying 15 per hour

that would make the welfare check each month 2400,, which isn't happening,,, and to pay them upwards of 29 per hour would mean that the check is in the amount of about 4640,



even if you take the average benefit of 347 per month and add a food stamp allotment of 600 ,, you come up with less than 1000 per month or 6.25 per hour

I bet this thinktank is incuding the medicare, to come up with such a ridiculous claim

instead of comparing the AVERAGE actual welfare CHECK,, a recipient gets


if we compare check to check,, welfare is NOT paying more than minimum wage,,,

and here we have it,,,,


a family receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, food stamps, WIC, public housing, utility assistance and free commodities (like milk and cheese) would have a package of benefits worth $38,004, the seventh-highest in the nation.


so that 'welfare',, is not pertaining to a 'check' and what it pays

its looking at people who get EVERY POSSIBLE TYPE OF ASSISTANCE,, including wic, housing, utility and milk and cheese,,,

Maybe so, but, stronger work requirements should be required to those on welfare.

Those on welfare quivel over their peanuts while others pay their way....

Liberal bliss!

lol, do you know the requirements for those on welfare?

when I Was on,, for 315 dollars a month, I had to work 120 hours

so, someone got the benefit of my time and effort in return for less than 3 per hour,,,,,,,,more stringent? really?

Very precisely and eloquently put.

Liberals believe only the check is what tax payers pay for.

Tax payers are who make this country run.

Those beholden to the tax payer need show more respect.

I will pay you 7.50/hr to clean my apartment

I no longer receive assistance,, and I also don't do homes,,,people are very nasty in the comfort of their homes,,,lol

(not you specifically, but Im starting an office cleaning business FOR THAT VERY REASOn,,lol_

give me the list of the individuals who have to pay tax,, and I will show them respect

its not a given that every working person is paying it,,,nor does it matter when it comes to keeping the country running

its the investment we make,, just like we make in education, or national defense