Florida’s U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is looking to his political future. The Republican’s recently released book, American Dreams, makes a claim about the lower class and government benefits. Rubio claims:
"If (low-income) people work and make more money, they lose more in benefits than they would earn in salary."
PolitiFact Florida rated the claim for its truthfulness. Writer Joshua Gillin says the claim rates MOSTLY FALSE. According to Gillin, the problem is with the metrics.
“What (Sen. Rubio) is saying is people will not want to work above a certain level because they lose too many benefits versus how much they're making,” Gillin said.
Government benefits vary for low-income individuals and families. Programs like housing assistance, health care and even assistance through local programs. The more income a family makes, the fewer benefits those recipients will receive.
In 2013, the Cato Institute, a libertarian policy shop, released a study tallying the total federal and state benefits a person could receive. In nine states, assistance payouts were valued at more than $35,000 a year. According to the Cato Institute, in those states, welfare paid better than a minimum wage job in more than half of the U.S.
The study took a look the benefits a single mom with two children may be eligible for. The report assumes that a typical family would receive seven different kinds of public assistance.
But, there’s a problem with that assumption. According to the Congressional Budget Office, most families don’t receive assistance from more than one program.
Because it appears the report from the Cato Institute is plausible, but extremely rare, PolitiFact Florida rated it MOSTLY FALSE.
SOURCES: THE COST OF WELFARE BENEFITS
- PolitiFact's rating
- Marco Rubio, American Dreams, Jan. 13, 2014
- Cato Institute, "The Work Versus Welfare Tradeoff: 2013," 2013
- Cato Institute, "Welfare: A Better Deal than Work," Aug. 21, 2013
- Congressional Budget Office, "Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low- and Moderate-Income Workers," November 2012
- Congressional Budget Office, "Snapshot of Marginal Tax Rates for Low- and Moderate-Income Workers," Oct. 23, 2013
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "Policymakers Often Overstate Marginal Tax Rates for Lower-Income Workers and Gloss Over Tough Trade-Offs in Reducing Them," Dec. 3, 2014
- Email interview with LaDonna Pavetti, vice president, Family Income Support at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Jan. 8, 2015
- Eugene Steuerle, Institute Fellow and Richard B. Fisher Chair at the Urban Institute, Jan. 12, 2015