I think making something like this universal is good even if some kids are from families that can afford to pay, since it prevents having different lunch tiers (in some places they give kids on the free lunch program a shittier, cheaper meal) and gives rich kids one less thing to bully poor kids over
Universal programs like this are progressive for the same reason sales taxes are regressive. This is by and large true of all universal programs. In addition, they are cheaper to administer and get support from wealthier more politically engaged people and are therefore more likely to survive.
That's the thing I never understood about penny pinching means tested programs. Even if people cheat the system, you'll need multiple bureaucracies to implement the means testing, do audits, and do enforcement for people breaking the rules, then you need to involve the legal system. How much money could you possibly be saving at the end of that?
How much money could you possibly be saving at the end of that
It's not about saving money it's about not being perceived to be being taken advantage of. It doesn't work because everyone totally knows somebody that knows somebody that exploits welfare
Even if people cheat the system, you’ll need multiple bureaucracies to implement the means testing, do audits, and do enforcement for people breaking the rules, then you need to involve the legal system. How much money could you possibly be saving at the end of that?
It may be hard to believe, but the cruelty is in fact the point. They would rather eg. pay $70k per year or whatever the fuck it costs to keep someone in jail for a year versus $15k per year to give someone enough welfare to barely scrape by.
Rich kids don't go to public schools, and even the ones that do don't live in school districts where kids are on the free lunch program.
Seriously, the % of kids on free lunches you can find out about schools and serves as a metric for racists to avoid accidentally moving to diverse areas.
I didn't mean "1%er rich", just "rich" relative to the overall population. I went to public schools where the "rich kids" were middle class at best, but some still chose to be shitty to the poor students.
I think making something like this universal is good even if some kids are from families that can afford to pay, since it prevents having different lunch tiers (in some places they give kids on the free lunch program a shittier, cheaper meal) and gives rich kids one less thing to bully poor kids over
Universal programs like this are progressive for the same reason sales taxes are regressive. This is by and large true of all universal programs. In addition, they are cheaper to administer and get support from wealthier more politically engaged people and are therefore more likely to survive.
That's the thing I never understood about penny pinching means tested programs. Even if people cheat the system, you'll need multiple bureaucracies to implement the means testing, do audits, and do enforcement for people breaking the rules, then you need to involve the legal system. How much money could you possibly be saving at the end of that?
It's not about saving money it's about not being perceived to be being taken advantage of. It doesn't work because everyone totally knows somebody that knows somebody that exploits welfare
lots of smaller metros in the US (that have transit at all) are realizing that so few people ride the buses it's cheaper to just not charge fares
I sure wish my local area would do that. Bus fare is fucking stupid.
It may be hard to believe, but the cruelty is in fact the point. They would rather eg. pay $70k per year or whatever the fuck it costs to keep someone in jail for a year versus $15k per year to give someone enough welfare to barely scrape by.
Rich kids don't go to public schools, and even the ones that do don't live in school districts where kids are on the free lunch program.
Seriously, the % of kids on free lunches you can find out about schools and serves as a metric for racists to avoid accidentally moving to diverse areas.
I didn't mean "1%er rich", just "rich" relative to the overall population. I went to public schools where the "rich kids" were middle class at best, but some still chose to be shitty to the poor students.