White House economists say federal programs helped end poverty. Now they want to end the programs
“Now that the US poverty rate has dropped, the White House thinks it is time to take some of this social support away. It argues that the expansion of government welfare has led to an increase in unemployed people without disabilities—the Kaiser Family Foundation found that about 38% of those receiving Medicaid benefits were of working age and unemployed in 2016. The White House says that more stringent work requirements to receive programs like Medicaid and SNAP would increase ‘self-sufficiency,’ while making few people worse off. Administration economists correctly point out that, for some people, the incentives to work are low because a greater income would lead to the loss of government benefits.”