Three cheers for the NY Times ed board for writing an editorial pointing out that for so long as low-wage jobs are no better at alleviating poverty than cash assistance used to be, it’s the role of an effective government to correct the market failure by providing employment benefits.
“Welfare reform has often been touted as a triumph of market incentives. But when it passed in 1996, government was deeply involved, offering supportive policies and programs, including a higher minimum wage, expanded aid for child care, a big expansion in the earned income tax credit to ensure that work paid better than welfare, and an extension of health insurance to all low-income children.”