welfare cliff
Assistance cutoff threshold
The welfare cliff is the sharp loss of government benefits that occurs when a small increase in income pushes someone past an eligibility threshold.
A modest raise might cost more in lost benefits—food assistance, healthcare subsidies, housing vouchers—than the additional earnings provide.
She turned down the promotion because of the welfare cliff.
The phenomenon creates a perverse incentive against economic advancement, trapping recipients in a narrow income band.
- benefitsGains or helpful effects
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- income limitMaximum earnings for eligibility
- povertySevere lack of resources
- poverty trapEconomic cycle reinforcing indigence
trap · safety net · public assistance · cutoff · income · assistance · disincentive · SNAP · food stamps · Medicaid · housing · childcare · eligibility · marginal · tax · work · getting ahead · making ends meet
- catch-22svicious cycle, deadlock, poverty trap, debt spiral, infinite regress
welfare cliffsmooth transition
Gradual, unnoticeable change
sliding scale · soft landing · glide path · phaseout · gradual reduction
welfare, cliff, cliffs, well, fare, fares, fared, faring, farewell