Devising a Jobs Strategy
The cause of poverty today is the dire shortage of jobs with livable wages and benefits -- and not government programs or the behavior and values of the poor. A successful anti-poverty program has to begin with a realistic assessment of the needs of the working poor. As long as many Americans don't have a good education, and the number of good-paying jobs is far smaller than the number of job seekers, millions of Americans will be impoverished.
What Should be Done?
Reduce poverty by making it possible for people to work, by doing such things as subsidizing public day care, job training, and public transportation to and from work. Provide adequate and equal funding to all public schools, so that all children have access to high quality education. Expand job training programs so more people have the skills for decent jobs. Raise the minimum wage so full-time workers receive more than a poverty-level income.As a last resort, government should provide temporary jobs to unemployed workers.
Arguments For This Approach
If there aren't enough good-paying jobs, it s futile to expect people to be able to support themselves. Education and job-training are the best poverty prevention programs, and they are the least expensive measures.People don't have a right to an endless series of welfare checks, but everyone has a right to a decent job.
Arguments Against This Approach
Guaranteeing jobs for all Americans, or providing public sector jobs for those who cannot find employment elsewhere, would be prohibitively expensive. Substantially raising the minimum wage would be counterproductive as many employers would be forced to lay off workers. The best way to reduce poverty requires something that government cannot provide: motivation and hard work. In our free market economy, government shouldn't be the employer of last resort. We want less government, not more of it, and we certainly don't want millions of Americans in make-work government jobs.
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