[nstf]

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one example of how to do this. It effectively increases the earnings of low wage workers without distorting market prices.

The EITC does not _directly_ address the retirement/disability problem, though.

[markshead]

Giving someone a windfall each year of several thousand dollars is not the same as increasing their wages. It gets spent on very different things.