The Benefits Cliff
Benefits cliffs are the points on the path from poverty to economic stability where a small increase in earnings causes the loss of a public benefit. For many Ohioans, earning just a dollar more means they could lose access to benefits like Publicly Funded Child Care (PFCC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or Medicaid, setting them further behind than if they did not have an increase in income.
Workers often make career decisions based on the cliff by turning down raises and promotions, keeping them trapped at their current wage and supported by benefits. Businesses then struggle to fill open positions and retain workers, and taxpayers lose by funding a public benefits system that traps Ohioans in poverty, rather than supporting growth towards economic stability.
The Research
Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation: The Cliff Effect and Other Disincentives in our Public Benefit System
Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation: PULSE Briefing: Survey of Legislation to Ameliorate the Cliff Effect
National Governors Association: Advancing Economic Mobility for Low-Income Families: Policy Options for Governors
The Center for Community Solutions: Policy Change Can Reduce Benefit Cliffs and Incentivize Work
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: Career Ladder Identifier and Financial Forecaster (CLIFF)
National Conference of State Legislatures: Introduction to Benefits Cliffs and Public Assistance Programs
National Conference of State Legislatures: Addressing Benefits Cliffs
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation: Benefits Cliffs: Effects on Workers and the Role of Employers
National Center for Children in Poverty: Addressing Benefit Cliffs with the Family Resource Simulator
FedCommunities: A hand up, not a handout, to cross the benefits cliff
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: The Benefits Cliff: How It’s Impacting Workers, Employers, and the Economy
Poverty in Ohio
Ohio Workforce Coalition: When Working Isn’t Enough
Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies: State of Poverty
Policy Matters Ohio: State of Working Ohio
National Low Income Housing Coalition: The Gap Report
Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio: Out of Reach Ohio