Why Work? In 14 States, Welfare and Benefit Handouts Pay More

HotAir: One of the great “mysteries” that has been puzzling lawmakers in the swamp is the fact that the American labor force is still “missing” more than three million workers who were employed before COVID struck and could be working today. So where are all of these people and why haven’t they gone out to take new jobs? One factor that is contributing to the relatively low labor force participation rate is the combination of unemployment benefits and recently expanded Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, according a new study by the nonprofit Committee to Unleash Prosperity. In 14 states, unemployment benefits and ACA subsidies for a family of four with two people not working amounts to an annualized equivalent of $80,000 a year in wages and benefits, the study found. As noted above, 14 states are doling out that much. In three states, Washington, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, those benefits add up to more than $100K per year. Unfortunately, there is almost nobody in Washington who would raise their hand to say that perhaps we went a bit overboard with all of these benefits (HotAir).