From: Jeff Ubois <jubois@netcom.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 11:47:36 -0800 (PST)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Culling the proles with crypto anarchy
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19961203024102.008bd390@netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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The numbers quoted in the press were based on a study by the Cato Institute,
"The Work Welfare Trade-Off: An Analysis of the Total Level of Welfare
Benefits by the State" by Michael Tanner, Stephen Moore, and David Hartman,
September, 1995.  It's at 
<http://www.cato.org/research/pr-nd-st.html>.  

Extracts: 

* To match the value of welfare benefits, a mother with two children would
have to earn as much as $36,400 in Hawaii or as little as $11,500 in
Mississippi.

* In New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, the District of Columbia,
Hawaii, Alaska, and Rhode Island, welfare pays more than a $12.00-an-hour
job--or more than two and a half times the minimum wage. 

* In 40 states welfare pays more than an $8.00-an-hour job. In 17 states
the welfare package is more generous than a $10.00-an-hour job.

* Welfare benefits are especially generous in large cities. Welfare
provides the equivalent of an hourly pretax wage of $14.75 in New York
City, $12.45 in Philadelphia, $11.35 in Baltimore, and $10.90 in Detroit.
            
* In 9 states welfare pays more than the average first-year salary for a
teacher. In 29 states it pays more than the average starting salary for a
secretary. In 47 states welfare pays more than a janitor earns. Indeed, in
the 6 most generous states, benefits exceed the entry-level salary for a
computer programmer.


At 01:27 AM 12/3/96 -0800, Timothy C. May wrote:
>At 4:06 PM -0500 11/27/96, Clay Olbon II wrote:
>>At 12:46 PM 11/27/96 -0800, Dave Kinchlea <security@kinch.ark.com> wrote:
>
>>>I am not in a position to argue with you, I simply don't have the facts.
>>>My question is, do You? can you cite where this figure came from, it
>>>sounds like Republican rhetoric to me. Of course, I will point out, that
>>>minimum wage is simply not enough to feed a family. It is (or at least
>>>it should be) reserved for single folks just starting out.
>>
>>Can't give you the exact date, but it was an article in our local paper (The
>>Detroit News).  The $10 figure is not exact, as the actual number varies
>>from state to state, I remember that number as being about average.
>
>I can confirm the gist of Clay's point: I saw a table listing "effective
>hourly welfare pay" for the 50 states and D.C. This was in the "San Jose
>Mercury News," at least 8-10 months ago (and presumably elsewhere, as it
>was a major story). I used it in one of my articles, and gave the reference
>then (sorry, not handy, and my own welfare rate does not pay me enough to
>spend hours sifting through past articles for something so minor, an old
>cite, that is).
>