A better way to get welfare recipients back into the labor force
A better way to get welfare recipients back into the labor force
Randy Hicks in City Journal
Originally published July 1, 2025
House Republicans’ proposed Medicaid reforms have reignited a national conversation about work requirements. The GOP is right to argue that work is part of a good life, and that some program recipients should be required to hold a job.
But work requirements are only a first step. If the One Big Beautiful Bill becomes law, states will quickly discover that their administrative systems are ill-equipped to move recipients from welfare to work. To succeed, states should adopt a more integrated approach—one that provides access to both benefits and job training in a single location. The model for such an approach is Utah’s “One Door” strategy.
Today, nearly one in three Americans relies on some form of government assistance. But instead of helping vulnerable Americans get back on their feet, the safety net often keeps recipients mired in poverty, unable to break out of dependency and into self-reliance.
To understand why, consider the origins of America’s social welfare system. The modern safety net began in 1935 with the Social Security Act, followed by Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and cash welfare. Today, the government runs more than 80 assistance programs.
But these programs weren’t designed to operate together. In fact, calling them a “system” is misleading—there’s nothing systematic about them. Policymakers created the programs at different times, in response to different problems. Though the dollars start in Washington, they’re administered unevenly by the states. The result is a patchwork of siloed programs with overlapping goals, duplicative rules, disincentives to work, and little coordination of data or caseloads.
This complex maze dehumanizes millions of Americans in need. It forces low-income individuals to navigate countless forms, offices, and eligibility rules just to receive assistance. Few programs offer a clear path back into the workforce.
Yet work is essential to escaping poverty. Unemployment is a major driver of long-term dependency—and a key reason many people turn to welfare in the first place. Unfortunately, in nearly every state, the federally funded workforce training system operates entirely separate from the safety net.
Randy Hicks is the president and chief executive officer of the Georgia Center for Opportunity and cofounder of the Alliance for Opportunity.
