Most people would probably agree that receiving a paycheck is preferable to receiving a welfare check. Work is often cited as the best way to avoid or escape poverty. This method is especially true for single people because a year-round, full-time job, even at minimum wage, is enough to keep them above the poverty line of $8,050 per year (the line is higher in Alaska and Hawaii). However, what is not clear is whether work is always preferable to welfare.

Those who believe work is more beneficial than welfare note that employment helps people become more responsible and climb their way up the economic ladder. William A. Kelso, the author of Poverty and the Underclass: Changing Perceptions of the Poor in America, writes, "If [young uneducated males] work steadily at a variety of low-income positions, it is hoped they will...