James L. Payne

In the following viewpoint, James L. Payne contends that generous welfare benefits offer recipients a greater financial reward than full-time work, enticing many single mothers onto the welfare rolls. According to Payne, welfare payments promote idleness and dependency by undermining the social disapproval and painful consequences of dysfunctional behaviors like drug addiction and unwed childbearing. As a result, social norms have shifted to the point where welfare recipients are no longer ashamed of relying on the government to support their irresponsible lifestyles. Payne is the author of Overcoming Welfare: Expecting More from the Poor—and from Ourselves.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. In Payne’s opinion, how does the growth of the food stamp program illustrate the “aggravation principle” of sympathetic giving?
2. How much would...