(House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. / Photo: AP)
Earlier this summer, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) released “A Better Way,” the congressional Republicans’ agenda for moving Americans out of poverty and welfare dependency and into independence and success. The document was “developed with input from around the country, it looks past this president to what we can achieve in 2017 and beyond. It is our vision for a confident America, at home and abroad. It is a clear and compelling choice for our future.”
One of those whose input went into he document was Tarren Bragdon, founder and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). In 2015, the FGA helped to pass welfare reform in 22 states, which moved nearly 3 million people out of welfare and saved taxpayers $56 billion over the next decade. Another 32 states have committed to these changes in 2016. An additional 4.3 million people will be able to leave welfare behind, saving the taxpayers an estimated $102 billion in the same time period.
With a proven track record in effecting meaningful welfare reform, Bragdon was invited to testify before the House Ways and Means Committee in May. It was the committee’s first hearing on welfare reform in a decade.
“The tragedy of the failed welfare state is not how much money is being spent,” he testified. “The real tragedy is how many families are being trapped in poverty for far too long, sometimes generations.”
The current model of welfare isn’t working. According to the American Enterprise Institute, the odds of a child born into poverty moving out of poverty has not changed in two decades. Bragdon spoke of Kansas and Maine, which have restored requirements that able-bodied, childless adults work, volunteer, or undergo job training 20 hours per week in order to maintain benefits. Both states have seen incredible results.
In Kansas, 20 percent of able-bodied adults were on food stamps in 2013, with more than 90 percent of them with incomes below the poverty lines. Since implementing these reforms, the number has dropped by 75 percent. Nearly 60 percent of food stamp recipients found employment within one year, and making an average of 127 percent more than they did on public assistance.
As 2014 drew to a close, Maine had approximately 12,000 able-bodied childless adults receiving welfare. Just months later, in March 2015, the number had plummeted to 2,680. Around 9,000 people had been freed from poverty and put on the path to prosperity.
“The work requirement in welfare is the best way to get somebody out of poverty, because it gets them back to work,” Bragdon told Opportunity Lives. “We know that a full-time job is the best way for somebody to get out of poverty. Only three percent of people working full-time are in poverty.”
After the hearing, Ryan released “A Better Way,” which includes this work requirement for welfare. In fact, the number one idea in the poverty reduction section of the document is “Reward work. If you are capable, we will expect you to work or to prepare for work.”
Amelia Hamilton is a contributor for Opportunity Lives. You can follow her on Twitter @ameliahammy.
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