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Work requirements do not save taxpayer money [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-23
An underlying theme in all of the Republicans’ attempts to cut social services is ‘We don’t want to give money away to people who don’t want to work.’ In this story I will bury that argument in a shallow grave. I want to convince you that anyone making that claim has never had to lead others to get stuff done within a budget – or they’re just lying.
First of all, let me say that most people want to work. They want to feel needed and valuable. [Most Medicaid adults under age 65 are working already, without a “work requirement.”] In fact, there are a few people who don’t want to work; not as many as republicans think, but there are a few. The vast majority of people who aren’t able to hold down a job that pays a living wage are unable to because of circumstances beyond their control. Either they are physically or mentally unable to perform, or they are caring for someone else. The remainder who really don’t want to work are a small minority.
The question is, WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE? We already spend a lot of taxpayer resources to ensure that people who are getting social welfare money are actually trying to get a job. And republicans want to INCREASE work requirements. It’s not clear at all that taxpayers get that money back in lowered welfare costs. In fact, it does NOT work.
But I want to take this from a macro level down to personal experience. Have you ever had someone working for you who really didn’t want to work? I’ve had a few, VERY FEW. Most of my reports who weren’t performing well were simply in the wrong job or they had extenuating circumstances.
Those few who did not want to work made my life miserable. I worked hard to give them additional training and coaching. I had to micromanage them – which I hate. In the end I never got any more work out of them than I put into them. It was a waste of the company’s time & money. Eventually I had to admit defeat and work with HR to fire them; painful.
My contention is that we can multiply that personal experience by millions to know what happens on a national level when we force work requirements on those who need welfare. It’s not good for the recipients and it’s a waste of taxpayer money. Yes, there are a few welfare recipients who truly don’t want to work – VERY FEW. But a lot of taxpayer money is wasted in chasing down those few.
Anyone who has really tried to make someone produce actual work who doesn’t want to work knows how hard it is. The reality is that you are never going to get more work out of them than the amount you put in to it. In the end, it’s just not worth it. We as a society would be better off just letting those people stay on welfare.
I have little hard data to prove my contention. BUT REPUBLICANS DON’T HAVE ANY DATA TO PROVE THAT WORK REQUIREMENTS SAVE MONEY. So, when republicans claim that work requirements will save tax money, we need to challenge them on it.
Your thoughts?
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/23/2312056/-Work-requirements-do-not-save-taxpayer-money?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web
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