The numbers quoted in the press were based on a study by the Cato Institute, "The Work Welfare Trade-Off: An Analysis of the Total Level of Welfare Benefits by the State" by Michael Tanner, Stephen Moore, and David Hartman, September, 1995. It's at <http://www.cato.org/research/pr-nd-st.html>. Extracts: * To match the value of welfare benefits, a mother with two children would have to earn as much as $36,400 in Hawaii or as little as $11,500 in Mississippi. * In New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Alaska, and Rhode Island, welfare pays more than a $12.00-an-hour job--or more than two and a half times the minimum wage. * In 40 states welfare pays more than an $8.00-an-hour job. In 17 states the welfare package is more generous than a $10.00-an-hour job. * Welfare benefits are especially generous in large cities. Welfare provides the equivalent of an hourly pretax wage of $14.75 in New York City, $12.45 in Philadelphia, $11.35 in Baltimore, and $10.90 in Detroit. * In 9 states welfare pays more than the average first-year salary for a teacher. In 29 states it pays more than the average starting salary for a secretary. In 47 states welfare pays more than a janitor earns. Indeed, in the 6 most generous states, benefits exceed the entry-level salary for a computer programmer. At 01:27 AM 12/3/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:
At 4:06 PM -0500 11/27/96, Clay Olbon II wrote:
At 12:46 PM 11/27/96 -0800, Dave Kinchlea <security@kinch.ark.com> wrote:
I am not in a position to argue with you, I simply don't have the facts. My question is, do You? can you cite where this figure came from, it sounds like Republican rhetoric to me. Of course, I will point out, that minimum wage is simply not enough to feed a family. It is (or at least it should be) reserved for single folks just starting out.
Can't give you the exact date, but it was an article in our local paper (The Detroit News). The $10 figure is not exact, as the actual number varies from state to state, I remember that number as being about average.
I can confirm the gist of Clay's point: I saw a table listing "effective hourly welfare pay" for the 50 states and D.C. This was in the "San Jose Mercury News," at least 8-10 months ago (and presumably elsewhere, as it was a major story). I used it in one of my articles, and gave the reference then (sorry, not handy, and my own welfare rate does not pay me enough to spend hours sifting through past articles for something so minor, an old cite, that is).