Strengthening Welfare: How DOGE Can Help Open Doors to Work and Opportunity

COMMENTARY

As Department of Government Efficiency representatives make their rounds in federal agencies, one of their first priorities should be looking into the U.S. welfare system, which costs taxpayers $1.6 trillion per year.

DOGE representatives will likely have a hard time navigating what program or agency they should start with. As millions of welfare recipients know firsthand, DOGE can’t simply head to the Department of Health and Human Services to solve the problem — the safety net system is not stationed under one agency but rather spans numerous departments that have interrelated purposes but separate and often conflicting operational structures.

Since the adoption of the first federal welfare program in 1935, the safety net has grown into a convoluted maze of more than 80 programs, including 20 that provide education assistance, 17 that provide housing and 16 that offer various social services.

Millions of Americans navigate this complex web each day. They devote hours to calling or visiting multiple departments and sorting through overlapping or duplicate requirements and paperwork — all to make ends meet. 

This fragmented setup could be left alone if we think the best we can do for people in poverty is to give them only enough to survive. But if there’s any reverberating takeaway from the last election, it’s that Americans expect their leaders to do everything in their power to tear down barriers to opportunity.

For welfare recipients, the best place to start is opportunities for work. Despite the myriad agencies and resources focused on support, our safety net’s efforts to address material needs are failing to help Americans move up.

In fact, its inefficiencies and perverse incentives discourage people from working.

On top of the complexities that make navigating the system a full-time job of its own, welfare programs are riddled with barriers known as benefits cliffs, or the sudden and often unexpected loss of assistance that occurs when a worker’s wages increase slightly.

In the short term, this loss leaves people worse off than they were before despite earning more. Welfare recipients will often hold off on job promotions or even work fewer hours to avoid the financial hardship of losing benefits.

This makes sense when you consider the impossible burden this situation demands of recipients.

For example, economic modeling of the welfare system shows a family of four will face a food stamp cliff as soon as their household income exceeds $36,084. To make up for the immediate SNAP benefit loss of $462 each month, that same family would need to earn $58,280 per year — a 61.5% increase in income. 

While DOGE does not have the power to enact needed structural changes, there are steps it can take to reduce inefficiencies and support integration of workforce and safety net programs in a way that better transitions safety net assistance into work support.

These include reducing duplication across programs, fostering private sector involvement, supporting efforts to restructure and streamline programs, removing benefits cliffs, and empowering states to take innovative approaches. 

In highlighting the disincentives to work, DOGE should also emphasize how clearer pathways to work can make “middle-skill” jobs more accessible to low-income Americans. These opportunities can play a key role in helping low-income individuals acquire the training, pay and connections needed to more securely move off government programs and toward self-sufficiency. 

Such jobs typically require education or training beyond a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree. They offer a decent wage to help workers attain financial independence and open options for careers in valuable roles, including electricians, plumbers, carpenters, nurses and many other professions that are needed in our communities.

Work, for those who are able, should be an integral part of any government assistance program not only because of its economic benefits but also because of its importance as a pillar of human well-being.

Research has shown time and again that work — with its benefits for personal worth and dignity, mental health and stronger families — is a gateway to believing in a better future and actually achieving it.

DOGE’s efforts are commendable, and it has a significant opportunity to highlight how encouraging work and middle-skill jobs can address many of the challenges that plague the U.S. safety net system.

Randy Hicks is the president and chief executive officer of the Georgia Center for Opportunity, an independent, nonpartisan organization that conducts public policy research and mobilizes community resources to ensure that every person — no matter their race, past mistakes or circumstances of birth — has access to a quality education, fulfilling work and thriving family life. The center can be found on X.