[adventured]

Of course it's conditional, as it should be. If you're at or below the poverty line you can draw on the most welfare benefits, if you're earning a median income the benefits you can utilize are diminished.

Proclaiming it's often insufficient is a comically loaded premise. How often? In which states? Under which circumstances? I've got the perfect response for that: it's often sufficient.

According to the OECD's numbers, the US poor live better than almost any other poor people on the planet save for those in a select few countries (eg Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia). [1][2]

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/01/astonish...

[2] https://mises.org/blog/poor-us-are-richer-middle-class-much-...

[fish_fan]

Living better is a relative term. Having access to cheap junk food and TVs does not pay medical bills, nor the debt that follows.