Income from benefits in the US can be higher than from salaries, so Americans do not want to go to work

There are 3 million fewer Americans working today than in 2019. Why it has become more profitable not to work in the USA, reports The New York Post.

Photo: IStock

Most Americans believe in a reliable public safety net in America. When people go through hard times or lose their jobs, their families do not go hungry, lose their homes, or suffer deprivation. But most Americans also believe that public assistance should be short-term and aimed at getting people back on their feet quickly, helping them find jobs and get on the path to financial self-sufficiency to contribute to the economy.

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Today's welfare programs fail to achieve this goal.

Did you know that families earning half a million dollars a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies? Or that in some states, unemployment benefits could be the equivalent of a $100 annual job?

It's shocking, but it's a fact. This may explain why so many businesses are failing to get workers back to work nearly three years after COVID-19 hit those areas.

Middle class income = benefits

There are many reasons for the shortage of workers, but one of them is that in many states social benefits make more or almost as much money as respectable middle-class jobs.

Under Presidents Barack Obama and Biden, many of the high performance work requirements that were introduced in the historic bipartisan welfare reform of 1996 have been eliminated. Restrictions on public goods have also disappeared, while Congress and the states have made benefits more generous.

Many programs, such as the Supplemental Food Assistance Program (Food Stamps), are vetted so only low-income people are eligible. But other benefits—including unemployment insurance and ObamaCare subsidies—are not.

The value of these benefits can be overwhelming. The income from them is actually much higher than that of many working professions. The Prosperity Development Committee found the following:

• In 24 states, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies for a family of four with no one working are equivalent on an annualized basis to at least the income of an average household.
• A family that earns nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year is still eligible for ObamaCare subsidies in every state.
• In a dozen states, the cost of unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies exceeds the wages and benefits of the average teacher, builder, electrician, firefighter, truck driver, machinist or salesman.
• In New Jersey, a family of four can receive benefits equal to $108 in annual earned income, and none of them work.
• In Connecticut and New Jersey, a family that earns $300 a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies.
• New Jersey is a state where a family can earn the equivalent of $100 a year if both parents receive unemployment benefits and ObamaCare health care subsidies. In Connecticut, benefits can be as high as $000.

To be clear, unemployment insurance in most states is limited to at least six months. But while Americans are receiving these benefits, there is little financial incentive to enter the labor market.

In addition, people move in and out of unemployment by working enough months to become eligible again.

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The figures also do not include huge payments to unsuitable candidates, which top $100 billion a year. This means families that are not technically eligible for food stamps or ongoing unemployment benefits are still receiving them.

Donor benefit

Of particular concern is the fact that these programs, which were ostensibly introduced as insurance for low-income families, have been expanded to the point that those with higher incomes benefit the most. Including families earning half a million dollars a year.

The Biden administration's expansion of ObamaCare was a sop to the wealthy Democratic Party donor class. But the expansion has done nothing to help those who are truly poor.

In many states, working for $20 an hour for 40 hours a week would mean less income than two parents on unemployment and health care benefits. There are very few incentives to return to work, especially when the family earns more than their blue-collar colleagues who work.

If that sounds like an exaggeration, consider that the median annual household income and benefits are about $93. In New Jersey, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies alone are worth $000 annually—that’s 122% more for those who don’t works in most professions.

State allowance

But even the national median cost of annual government unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies is relatively high at $69. That's more than the income and benefits of the average firefighter, truck driver, machinist, or salesman.

It also raises basic questions of fairness. Is it fair that in most states an unemployed family can earn as much or more than a construction worker, security guard, or dentist's assistant?

Most studies conclude that work is associated with happiness, greater financial security over time, and better health with a longer lifespan.

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The whole idea of ​​Social Security was to get Americans back into the labor market. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared that "the days of unemployment benefits are numbered." In the 1990s, Congress sought to "end welfare as we know it." None of these goals were achieved.

The result of these policies is a record low labor force participation rate, which means fewer Americans working and higher taxes for those who work.

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