Income redistribution has consumed more and more of federal and state budgets. The so-called War on Poverty accounts for trillions of dollars in spending over the last half-century. Economists Stephen Moore, Casey Mulligan, and E.J. Antoni explain that it’s even worse than you think.

Most Americans believe, as we do, in a reliable government safety net in America, so that when people fall on tough times or lose their jobs, their families will not go hungry, lose their homes or suffer deprivation. But most Americans also believe that government assistance should be short-term and aimed at quickly getting people back on their feet, into a job and on the road to being financially self-sufficient and a contributor to our economy.

Today’s welfare programs are failing to accomplish that goal.

Did you know that families earning half a million dollars a year can receive ObamaCare subsidies? Or that in some states, unemployment insurance benefits can be equivalent to a job with annual pay of $100,000?

It’s shocking but true, and it might explain why so many businesses can’t get workers back on the job almost three years after COVID-19 hit these shores. Today there are still at least 3 million fewer Americans working than there were in 2019.

The trio explain that, “in many states, welfare pays more than or nearly as much as respectable middle-class jobs” in large part because Barack Obama and Joe Biden have “eviscerated” many of the restrictions on welfare achieved in the 1990s. While food stamps are means tested, unemployment insurance and ObamaCare subsidies are not. So, they found:

In 24 states, unemployment benefits and ObamaCare subsidies for a family of four with no one working are the annualized equivalent of at least the national median household.

A family making almost a quarter of a million dollars annually still qualifies for ObamaCare subsidies in every state.

 In a dozen states, the value of unemployment benefits and Obama­Care subsidies exceeds the salary and benefits of the average teacher, construction worker, electrician, firefighter, truck driver, machinist or retail associate.

It’s true that most states limit unemployment insurance to six months, but many “people move in and out of the unemployment system — working enough months until they again qualify for benefits.” Then there’s the fraud that tops $100 billion annually. The important thing is that incentives matter.

The expansion of the welfare state has created situations where work often doesn’t pay. In many states, working a $20-an-hour job for 40 hours a week would mean a reduction in income compared to two parents receiving their unemployment benefits and health care subsidies. Until the unemployment runs out, there is very little incentive to go back to work, especially when the family is receiving more than their blue-collar counterparts who are on the job. …

Is it fair that, in most states, a family can earn about as much as or even more than a construction worker, a security guard or a dental assistant?

For from eradicating poverty as politicians have promised often through the years, these programs are costly and not beneficial. The trio concludes:

Our goal is to achieve a just and productive society and make America a place that rewards work — not welfare. But the left has adopted a strategy of a “national guaranteed income” for Americans whether they work or not. The result is a record-low labor-force participation rate — meaning fewer Americans working and higher taxes for those who do work.

Read the whole thing here.