re: The argument for social assistance programs as a net benefit for a productive society

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and why do they have a lower participation rate?

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Welfare programs that disincentivize work

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Are you saying environmental factors in childhood play no role at all?

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Obviously, they do. If a person grows up poor, in a bad neighborhood with high crime rates, with a single parent, and with uneducated parents, they will almost certainly grow up poor. These factors have a stronger correlation than race does. Their odds of improving their economic outlook increase for each of those four factors that you change.

What are we doing about reducing these factors? Not much, that I can see. In fact, our welfare system provides housing in housing projects for many, and these neighborhoods have high crime rates. It also discourages marriage. For many, public assistance becomes permanent, so it ensures that a child spends their entire childhood in poverty.

We need incentives to work, incentives to get married, and incentives to get an education.