Benefits can not only prevent the loss of a place to live, they can lift a low-income family out of poverty. Lawsuits and federal investigations have not discouraged the city s welfare bureaucracy from altering its singular goal of reducing public benefit enrollment. Oddly enough, it costs the city little to retain these benefits, making its policies perplexing. The evidence that these benefits are needed is overwhelming. Although most of those who left the rolls and found jobs earned more than they would have received in welfare cash payments, they have become our poorest workers.
Benefits can lift a family out of poverty.
Food Stamps can significantly improve a working poor family s ability to purchase food. In fact, a family of four with a full-time minimum wage worker can be lifted above the poverty line through the combination of earnings, Food Stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit. The loss of Medicaid deters families from leaving welfare. Few who leave the rolls gain employer-sponsored health insurance to replace Medicaid. Many of those who lack health insurance return to welfare when a family member becomes ill.