| Show I Readers Ask I ABOUT WELFARE L REFORM EF What are the objectives of welfare reform As is inevitable with a problem as complex as asS S welfare different groups have different objectives objectives c Sj tives in seeking reform Two objectives that are areS S widely shared however are to provide people who cannot work a decent living and to construct D LJ a system that provides incentives to work that thatis is to reward people who work more than those I who do not At the same time taxpayers want to hold down the l costs of welfare and many states want the federal government to relieve them of the financial burden of welfare t Can all these objectives be satisfied These objectives are often in conflict If Ifa a we welfare wel- wel I- I N fare recipient will get only 25 percent more inY in in- Y 1 come by working he will have a strong incentive incentiveS S to stay on welfare if he values his free time more V than the small additional income O D One way to deal with this problem would be to toL L have a low income floor guarantee and to allow recipients to keep a higher percentage of their welfare payments pay ments if they get a job ajob To keep down costs the income floor would have to be low While this would provide incentives to work a low income floor would be hard on the disabled or mothers with young children On the other hand a system with a high income floor which also maintained work incentives would be very expensive because because be cause the government would be supplementing the incomes of many more workers What is the Presidents President's proposal The administration wants to deal with these problems by separating those who can work workS c S fr from m those who cannot Recipients who are not notS S expected to work would receive an income guar guar- antee Recipients who can work must find jobs in inthe O 0 the private sector or take public service jobs The system would be fairer in that people who l work would get more than people who do not work The states would get little relief under this proposal Most significantly the Congressional Budget Office has found that the program would cost an additional 10 to 11 11 billion a year largely because of the high costs of government job creation Although the proposed public service jobs would pay annually labor is pushing for higher wages because they fear welfare workers would be substituted for union labor h. h II |
