The safety net should work for working-age adults - Lauren Bauer, Bradley Hardy, and Olivia Howard

The authors also provide evidence that a safety net that predicates its inaccessibility to ABAWDs on the grounds of self- sufficiency through work does not recognize the state of the low-wage labor market and the precarious position of many of its workers. [...] Given the compendium of evidence on the long-run benefits of access to higher levels of income, as well as the more-specific benefits from access to safety net benefits, ABAWD-designated restrictions on the provision of support have the potential to worsen economic outcomes for children, adults, and families. [...] Fisher (1992) provides a useful summary of the history and design of the OPM, and Fox and Burns (2021) offers a brief discussion of the differences between the OPM and SPM. [...] self-sufficiency through work does not recognize the These patterns are emphasized by the stratification of state of the low-wage labor market and the precarious low-wage and mid- to high-wage labor markets (Au- position of many of its workers. [...] The safety net should work for working-age adults 11 BOx 3 The case of childless adults The image of the Welfare Queen—a woman who has children in order to live off the largesse of the American taxpayer—is another stereotype that has affected the structure and generosity of the safety net.