The United States social safety net aims to improve the lives of the lowest-income families and individuals. As the term “social safety net” implies, the goal is to provide a support system that “catches” families as they fall into poverty but still encourages work. The assortment of non-contributory assistance programs — in-kind and cash transfer programs — has grown and become more complex over the years, and families and case managers often face challenges in navigating through them.
The Price Center for Social Innovation partnered with Imagine LA to understand the total resources families have available and identify the threshold points where the safety net may actually become a barrier towards economic independence — a benefits cliff, where an increase in earnings leaves a family worse off, or a resource plateau, where such an increase leaves a family no better off in terms of the total resources available to them (income and benefits).