America keeps their poor poor

There is an evil plot in the world where if you're poor, you're kept that way. Especially for those folks who live in expensive cities like Seattle.  In fact despite the fact that minimum wage is now $15, we all are feeling that in what we pay at the grocery store, what we pay for paper products, etc. So what little more you're earning is going in large part to pay for the rise in costs.  For example McDonalds has increased everything from 10 to 20 cents - and they specifically state that the rise in prices is due to the increase in minimum wage.  They also no longer take the majority of the specials that go on nationwide.

Besides the rise in prices there's a much more, often overlooked, devious way that the system works to punish a person on SSI if they do start going back to work. While the person is not working and getting 100% SSI (which is roughly $730 a month), they are also eligible for roughly around $130 a month in food stamps, and 100% paid Medicaid/Medicare.  Unlike other insurance plans you get while you work, Medicaid/Medicare has no monthly payments and you pay very, very little for medications (usually $10 or so).  Now once the person goes back to work - if they're lucky enough, and capable enough to work full-time it means they'll make 160 hours a month at $15/hr which comes to $2400.  This means that they lose their SSI, their food stamps, and most likely their medical coverage.  So $2400-$130-$730=$1540.  Now the medical coverage is going to likely cost them $300 a month which brings them to $1240.  That doesn't include the cost of things like per appointment costs of typically $30 and higher medicine costs. That's going to be another $150/month... down to $1090.

So you come out ahead $1090... but then you have to pay more on your housing as well.  If you are in subsidized housing you pay roughly 1/3 of your income. So on $730 you'd pay about $200 after discouts. If you're making $2400 your rent goes up to roughly $800.  This means of that $1090 you're paying an extra $600 for housing which leaves you with roughly $490 extra for all your 160 hours of work.

You'd think the system would reward those ambitious enough to go out there and work... but instead it does the opposite.