Welfare Payout Statistics That Will Make You Really Mad

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/work-versus-welfare-trade

[luckytxn 2,264]

It is only money so just print more. So no big deal.

http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/work-versus-welfare-trade

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Well isn't that interesting that it loosely (there are exceptions, obviously) matches up with the ranking of highest cost of living to lowest cost of living... Funny, that...

http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Well isn't that interesting that it loosely (there are exceptions, obviously) matches up with the ranking of highest cost of living to lowest cost of living... Funny, that...

http://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/index.stm

So, you are suggesting the high cost of living in some states may the result of paying overly generous benefits to those who choose not work? Interesting to say the least.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

So, you are suggesting the high cost of living in some states may the result of paying overly generous benefits to those who choose not work? Interesting to say the least.

I'm saying that states with higher cost of living are likely to have higher monetary needs for welfare recipients.

I would like to note that the CATO (Formerly known as the Charles Koch Foundation) report that you link to says very specifically that there is no evidence that welfare recipients are lazy or do not want to work. Being reluctant to accept an 'available' position is not the same thing, additionally, as choosing not to work. Simply put, if I have just been laid off from my 60 000 dollar a year salaried job with benefits in the IT world and accept the first available position which is a stock position which pays out 7.10/hr at 30 hours per week, with no benefits, which pays about 10 060 a year, I have now made it much harder for myself to find a comparable position to the one I held before. People don't want to give 60 000/yr jobs to people who have just spent six months being 'satisfied' to be paid 7.10. By undervaluing your time, you successfully remove yourself from the market. And that's to say nothing for the fact that your skills go stagnant, making it that much harder to find a job in your field. You have to keep your head in the competitive game in order to get into a decent paying position and not be trapped in an entry level one that pays effectively nothing for the rest of your life.

Additionally, and more importantly, the study calculates the 'wage' of a welfare receiving individual based on 72 cash or in-kind programs that the study acknowledges no one person is eligible for at any one time. The actual 'take home pay' of a welfare recipient is much, much lower than the wages given on your table.

[Póg mo 1,749]

http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/work-versus-welfare-trade

You know, I probably would take this report more serious, if it was published by the Onion.