What matters to poor people? H. Luke Schaeffer and Kathryn J. Edin took the unusual step of asking them. Schaeffer explained
We ask families, “If we came back in a year and you were doing really well, what it would look like?” They say, “I’d be working in a decent job, getting paid $10-12 an hour.” We want to do a lot more to help people find and stay in jobs if that’s what they want. Many of our families spoke eloquently about how work was a way that they could have a structure in their day and contribute. We don’t give a lot of opportunities to poor Americans to do something meaningful. If there are good jobs, and some support to maintain those jobs, it’s socially incorporating and it’s what people want, far more than being unemployed and taking a welfare check. I think that’s the type of program that Americans would support.
A number of things are striking in this statement. First, the amount of money is $10-$12, not the $15 that is the focus of so much political activity. Second, dependency is about the sense that one has nothing to contribute to others, which means a universal basic income may do little to help. Third, something meaningful goes beyond the rhetorical idea of digging and filling ditches. Fourth, jobs and supports are about individual abilities and needs, but programs and policies are about uniform processes and rules.
