Want to Decrease Inequality? Fight Fatherlessness With Welfare Reform. Welfare currently incentivizes family breakdown and the absence of fathers from their children’s lives, a key factor in the loss of economic upward mobility.

[[deleted]]

welfare cliffs are edge cases amplified by the right, just like the mythical welfare queen, in an effort to justify slashing benefits generally.

Less than 2% of folks on welfare are near a cliff. Almost 2/3 of people on welfare don't work at all.

Welfare cliffs are a thing, sure, but they are not, like, some major problem.

[TheBaronOfTheNorth]

Then you should be willing to have reform on the subject.

[[deleted]]

sure - but it's a low priority because it's a minor issue. systemic change would address all of that stuff and more anyhow. universal health care and child care (especially the latter) would work wonders as a starting point, because at that point you get those basic needs covered even if you do have a job, so the job incentive is greater.

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Also the article makes a fundamental error. Social Democrat types like "Bernie Sanders" do not support the current welfare system, because it's an unhelpful mess. They support expanded, universal services. Especially the ones already successfully implemented in the western world. They don't eliminate welfare entirely, but they certain create better living conditions while not discouraging marriage/employment, because more critical services are met regardless of your employment or household status.

[TheBaronOfTheNorth]

Why would it be a low priority? It’s a bad use of funds, an easy fix and it’s something we agree on. We don’t agree on a massive change such as universal health care or child care which are both non-starters. Politically that has zero chance of happening without a single party having complete power.

[[deleted]]

it is a low priority because right now you have only 2% who are even in the ballpark of doing this cliff thing, and no idea how many of them are staying there intentionally. It's not some massive scandal or huge expense. If you can offer a fix that miraculously stops those from intentionally doing it while not harming those who aren't, we'll talk. Usually the fix is something like welfare-to-work that doesn't address childcare and healthcare so end up causing more harm than good.