an individual on minimum-wage would qualify for food stamps, and possibly a rent subsidy as well?
My (MA) understanding is that food stamps are relatively easy to get, and most people with low enough income can get them, but housing subsidy is very hard to get, with a queue of several years.
Which is another thing that makes this tricky: there are a lot of benefits that people are technically entitled to but often don’t get in practice, and often take up a lot of time to get. So if you look at the CBO’s “Effective Marginal Tax Rates for
Low- and Moderate-Income Workers in 2016” pdf (figure 1) you can see that there are significant benefits at the low end, but lots of people don’t get them.
My (MA) understanding is that food stamps are relatively easy to get, and most people with low enough income can get them, but housing subsidy is very hard to get, with a queue of several years.
Which is another thing that makes this tricky: there are a lot of benefits that people are technically entitled to but often don’t get in practice, and often take up a lot of time to get. So if you look at the CBO’s “Effective Marginal Tax Rates for Low- and Moderate-Income Workers in 2016” pdf (figure 1) you can see that there are significant benefits at the low end, but lots of people don’t get them.