The issue is quite complicated.
There are housing subisdies, food stamps, earned income tax credits and such for working poor.
Alex has a point about the women that "accidently" get knocked up and have kids. But how many more of these "accidents" happen because of the "safety net"
Unwed pregnancy has skyrocketted since the "war on poverty" (I believe it has almost tripled). People used to have to depend on family, church, or the community before, and were usually expected to change their ways. How many more kids have been condended to start off with this obstacle because of our compasion?
Medicare and Social Security are also a problem in this. With the advent of social security the cost of employing a person rose to now 18% or so (12% just for SS, not sure what medicare is) above what it used to be. If SS were properly managed it would be one thing, but it is actually just a flat tax tacked on to our progressive system hitting working poor extremely hard since, they are still being taxed on income that would not be subject to the progressive tax.
So, to fight the "unfairness" of having people actually pay for their own SS and Medicare (that actually just gets spent with the rest of the tax money). We get the Earned Icome Tax credit. But instead of working people getting the money in each pay check to spend on housing and food and clothes, they get it back in one lump sum for a good party day.
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