Validating who earns too much or too little is a colossal task that leaves opportunities for people to lose access to food because they haven’t logged in that month to report their earnings.
It also often costs more in bureaucracy, people and infrastructure than simply giving it to everyone.
It also causes social stigma as you are seen as poor for using a service.
If it’s available to everyone, then none of these problems occur.
Rich people will typically self-opt out of these systems anyway, as they will want the better expensive version of the thing anyway.
For case studies where this works, see:
Free school meals
UK NHS
For places where the system doesn’t work because of income cutoffs, see:
UK benefits (working a little will cut you off, plunging you back into poverty
How about exceptions for rich people who can easily afford it at no noticeable impact to their livelihoods?
Validating who earns too much or too little is a colossal task that leaves opportunities for people to lose access to food because they haven’t logged in that month to report their earnings.
It also often costs more in bureaucracy, people and infrastructure than simply giving it to everyone.
It also causes social stigma as you are seen as poor for using a service.
If it’s available to everyone, then none of these problems occur.
Rich people will typically self-opt out of these systems anyway, as they will want the better expensive version of the thing anyway.
For case studies where this works, see:
For places where the system doesn’t work because of income cutoffs, see:
Adding means testing to programs like this generally cost more money than it saves.
No, because that just opens the path for the ever expanding “except for them” for a very small portion of the population.
I like this. Ultimately there shouldn’t be any rich people, but that’s a step we can figure out later.
Make them pay full price, period.