If the poverty trap were made even more difficult to overcome
because a working mother will have extra expenses like
transportation and child care that a nonworking mother will not
face, then
she will have a powerful incentive to work more than one
job.
the family better off than if she did not work at all.
her economic gains from working will be even smaller.
working now and in the future is even more attractive.
Crystal is a single mother with 2 children. She can earn $10 per
hour and can work up to 1,800 hours per year. However, if she does
not earn any income at all, she will receive government benefits
totaling $18,000 per year. For every $1 of income she earns, her
level of government support is reduced by $1. Crystal