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Welfare is capped at a maximum of 5 years, and unemployment insurance - which you don't qualify for if you quit your job - is capped at even less. Meanwhile student loan payments pile up and can be used to garnish your wages and social security.

The Scandinavian countries clearly have far more generous social safety nets.

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Comments here have blown up but almost everyone is missing one of the most important points: dollars spent do not determine how good a social safety net is.

There are estimates NYC spends >$40k/year/homeless-w-mental-illness with no evidence their situation has improved. In fact, it might be getting worse!

Social safety and healthcare in America is broken. The War on Poverty has spent 10s of trillions, and our healthcare costs are the most outrageous in the world. That doesn't mean we have a good social safety net.

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