This isn’t right for taxpayers … or for the poor.

Do you agree?

A study compared the welfare benefits provided by each state with the wages one would need to earn in each state to have an equivalent take-home income.

The results were shocking…

For a single mother with 2 children, the welfare benefits were more than:

• The average first-year gross wages for a teacher in 11 states
• The starting wage for a secretary in 39 states

The hourly value of welfare benefits in each state compared to the hourly state-mandated minimum wage is also shocking.

Of the 47 states that have minimum-wage laws, 34 pay out more in welfare benefits – on an hourly basis – than they do to full-time minimum-wage workers.

These 34 states were ranked according to the gap between the hourly minimum wage and the hourly value of welfare benefits. Here are the top 10 wage gaps:

• Hawaii – $19.88
• Massachusetts – $13.30
• New Jersey – $12.45
• Washington, D.C. – $11.93
• New Hampshire – $11.86
• New York – $11.31
• Connecticut – $11.23
• Rhode Island – $11.23
• Wyoming – $10.53
• Vermont – $10.36

Here are some of the details of the wage gaps for Hawaii, Massachusetts and California…

Hawaii:

• Total welfare benefits package: $49,175
• Pre-tax wage equivalent: $60,590
• Hourly wage equivalent: $29.13/hr
• State hourly 2017 minimum wage: $9.25/hr

The $29.13 hourly welfare rate is comparable to the hourly equivalent of the national median salary of an electrical engineering technician.

Massachusetts:

• Total welfare benefits package: $42,515
• Pre-tax wage equivalent: $50,540
• Hourly wage equivalent: $24.30/hr
• State hourly 2017 minimum wage: $11/hr

California:

• Total welfare benefits package: $35,287
• Pre-tax wage equivalent: $37,160
• Hourly wage equivalent: $17.87/hr
• State hourly 2017 minimum wage: $10.50/hr

California was one of 19 states to raise its minimum wage in 2017. The minimum wage will continue to rise until it reaches $15/hr in 2022.

But even at $15/hr, full-time workers will be earning less than those on welfare will be receiving for doing nothing.

This is what traps the poor in a vicious cycle of poverty…

It robs the welfare recipient of upward mobility … and incentive.

It creates welfare slavery … perhaps for life.

It’s time to stop this madness.

What do you think? Write me at [email protected]