|
The U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Work and Welfare
held a field hearing Tuesday in Chicago to examine ways to help
people get out of poverty through employment. The hearing was
called the “Dignity of Work: Lifting Americans Out of Poverty.”
“No amount of handouts or government assistance, no matter how
well intentioned, can substitute for the intangible benefits and
dignity that work brings to individuals and their families,”
said Illinois U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, the chairman of
the committee.
Matt Paprocki, president of the Illinois Policy Institute,
discussed strategies for reducing poverty that Congress could
implement to uplift impoverished individuals, including
instituting work requirements with welfare benefits.
“Institute work requirements similar to the successful
bipartisan reform that was passed in 1996 which lifted millions
of people out of poverty,” said Paprocki.
Paprocki said the federal government should end the benefits
cliff because the system leaves people with impossible choices
like providing for their family at a job or reducing work hours
and receiving greater benefits from government assistance.
Paprocki also said tax credits for apprenticeship programs
should be expanded because the average income for a person
completing an apprenticeship is $77,000.
According to the Illinois Policy Institute’s Center for Poverty
Solutions, just over 2% of Chicagoans with full-time employment
experience poverty. However, too many barriers and government
assistance programs prevent individuals from entering the
workforce full-time.
“When individuals become separated from meaningful work and are
no longer earning their own incomes, their dignity takes a hit
and American society suffers,” said Paprocki. “Lawmakers can
make meaningful strides for reducing poverty nationwide by
eliminating barriers to work.”
|
|
