Work, not welfare, uplifts the poor.

What I Learned in the Poverty War

PETER COVE

Nearly half a century ago, I dropped out of graduate school and enlisted as a foot soldier in America’s War on Poverty. 

Today, I’m still on the front lines, working to move people out of dependency and into employment. But with an important difference: I’ve become fed up with the useless policies that I once supported, and I’m trying to change the strategy of our bogged-down army.

We know for certain that income transfers, the preferred tactic of generations of liberals, have utterly failed to end poverty. 

My firsthand experience with welfare clients has shown me why: being on the dole encourages dependency. 

Working at a real job, by contrast, is the surest way for a person to climb out of poverty. 

Accordingly, the surest way for the government to fight poverty is to eliminate cash assistance almost entirely and offer jobs instead.

....................

Read more: www.city-journal.org