Assistance for Hard-Pressed Families is One of the Best Ways to Preserve and Create Jobs: Measures Supported by Some Policymakers Would be Far Less Effective

Publication Date: January 2009

Publisher: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.)

Author(s): Chad Stone

Research Area: Economics; Labor

Keywords: Job creation; Low-income families; Economic stimulus

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

In negotiations over the forthcoming economic recovery package, some policymakers have argued that various measures aimed at low- and moderate-income families would serve a "safety net" function but that the package should focus more heavily on creating jobs. This argument reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the current economic situation and of how economic stimulus works. Some of the proposals that policymakers apparently think of as job creators would actually preserve or create many fewer jobs than other proposals directed at families with low or moderate incomes or unemployed workers.