A CATO Institute study (go ahead and swallow your vomit now) from last ywar claimed that government aid pays more than the minimum wage does in 35 states. In 13 states, the authors say it's the equivalent of 15$ per hour.
I'll be damned, but CATO inadvertently makes a strong case for raising the minimum wage to at least 15$ per hour. If we're going to incentivise people to seek employment (three applicants for every one job opening, FYI) we need to make work pay. Let's call it the Make Work Pay Act.
The bill would take the CATO study, and verify its findings to determine the wage floor for employment. If "welfare" pays the equivalent of 15$ per hour in 13 states, then the minimum wage would have to be higher than that to discourage these lazy moochers (three job applicants for every one job opening, FYI) from collecting a government check.
Another takeaway from this study is that the government could cut aid until it's the equivalent of less than the minimum wage, thus offering an incentive for people to work at subhuman wage levels, rather than receive aid at a level comfortably between subhuman and human (the sweet spot!).
But who wants to be a sociopath?
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