Tens of millions of Americans access billions of dollars in benefits every year, but their ease of access depends on how wealthy they are. People at the very top of the income bracket passively take part in a welfare system for the wealthiest one percent, which comes in the form of huge tax loopholes. Older Americans, many of whom are in the middle class, are automatically enrolled in Social Security and Medicare, and benefits start rolling in once they hit a certain age. But for Americans in the lowest income bracket, benefits are needlessly complicated and cruelly means-tested.

On a recent episode of "Pitchfork Economics," Wendy Bach, professor of law with an expertise in poverty and public benefits law at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, explained that there are needless barriers to entry to receive benefits, but President Biden’s child tax credit could finally change our country’s broken relationship with social programs.

Back in the 1990s, Bill Clinton famously brought about the “end of welfare as we know it” by slashing government benefits. Democrats and Republicans alike worked to make it harder for poor Americans to access benefits, and public assistance became a source of shame and ridicule. 

As a result, we have a safety net system that’s both confusing and overwhelming to applicants. Drug testing and elaborate filing requirements have been placed in front of every form of government support for impoverished Americans, from rent assistance to SNAP payments to health insurance. To apply for Section 8 housing, applicants even have to go to an in-person interview, abide by work or volunteer requirements, and allow the government to see personal family records.

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Bach says that even if you jump through all of those hoops, “you could lose that housing for failing to comply with a vast number of both behavioral requirements and documentation requirements. You’re constantly being asked to recertify, to reproduce paperwork,” and you have to deal with the “presence of government officials in your home through home inspections,” which are incredibly stressful. When was the last time a one-percenter had their yacht boarded or their multi-million dollar home inspected so they could keep their tax breaks that are only making them richer?

In the social safety net, recipients are often considered guilty until proven innocent. For example, if a parent cannot pay for food so they apply for food assistance and the inspectors don’t find any food in the family’s refrigerator, the applicant could be referred to a child welfare agency, which could remove their child from the home and place them in state custody. Local law enforcement even uses these inspections to unfairly target Black families: In 2015, the Justice Department accused the LA Sheriff’s Department of using Section 8 inspections to purposefully push Black families out of majority-white neighborhoods.

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But now Bach believes that the tide may finally be turning. "I do think pandemic-related benefits have changed the conversation," she says. "I would call the expanded child tax credit really revolutionary in American social welfare policy, and the reason, simply, is universality."

Starting in July, the Biden administration began sending monthly cash payments of $250 or $300 per child to nearly every family in the United States. These checks were sent to almost every family – from parents with no income at all to married couples earning over $150,000.

Polling indicates that families are immediately spending the monthly checks as they come in, which is exactly how they're supposed to work. That consumer spending – on everyday necessities like food, housing, transportation, and other expenses – supports local businesses, which will have to hire more workers to keep up with increased demand. The program is overwhelmingly popular with recipients, including 73 percent of Trump voters who received child tax credit payments. And a Household Pulse Survey showed that hunger and other forms of economic hardship immediately declined when child tax credit checks started arriving, which means the program is working exactly as predicted.

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If our leaders can successfully communicate the benefits of this program to American voters, the success of child tax credits could transform our understanding of government assistance for the 21st century. Benefits might no longer be stratified by economic class, and they could be delivered automatically – without the ridiculous punitive hurdles that many programs put in front of the poorest Americans.

Bach predicts that the American public may be shifting its opinion on social services – but I want to know where you stand. Take our poll to tell us what you think about our country’s current safety net system:

Should it be easier for low-income families to get the support that they need?

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With your help, we’re advocating for a more inclusive, direct, and accessible social safety net that works for all Americans – instead of a trickle-down system that only benefits a handful of billionaires. Thanks for all that you do to support our work. 

Paul
Civic Action

Are you fired up to finally build an economy that works for all Americans? Ready to learn more from the world’s leading economic and political thinkers? Listen to the Pitchfork Economics podcast now!

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