[southpawgirl]

Or make jobs paying Walmart-style salaries pay somewhat more... ? Although I disagree with the conclusions of the article (it doesn't take lots of complexities into account, education level, family issues, disability, etc), the logic behind choosing welfare over a dismally paying, soul-crushing menial job is totally sound.

[mdemare]

Yes, raising the minimum wage would help, but part of the problem is that when the very poor start working, they're no longer eligible to all kinds of subsidies (food stamps, medicaid). Greg Mankiw explains it very well here: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.nl/2009/11/poverty-trap.html