welfare trap
noun1
US A situation where the welfare system discourages people who receive government public assistance payments from entering low-paid work because such work does not produce a significant income increase.
- Mr. Hayakawa said there was "a class of able-bodied persons who would rather collect public assistance than take jobs". . . . Cutting off food stamp benefits to these people, he said, would remove a disincentive to work, "close off one of the doors into the welfare trap."1982 August 23, Robert Pear, “Getting tougher on work rules for food stamps”, in New York Times, retrieved 09 Nov 2015:
- Synonyms
- unemployment trap
- Related terms
- inactivity trap