Taxing hard-up Americans at 95%
America’s welfare state is not working nearly as well as it should
AFTER her son was born in 2008, Melissa—homeless, jobless and alone—needed help. The welfare system stepped in: she received $478 in cash and $367 in food stamps each month, along with housing assistance that lowered the rent on her two-bedroom apartment in Boston to $131. Including health care, taxpayers subsidised her to the tune of $33,000 annually. Melissa used the money to go to college and earn a bachelor’s degree. She wants to get off the dole.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Taxing hard-up Americans at 95%”
From the September 7th 2013 edition
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