The Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation – The Cliff Effect and Other Disincentives in our Public Benefit System

The Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation released The Cliff Effect and Other Disincentives in our Public Benefit System. This report looks at when a small increase in wages triggers a complete cut-off of a public benefit, leaving the worker worse off financially. What started as the search for specific cliffs in our public benefits system has evolved into a comprehensive analysis of the disincentives phenomenon in our public benefit system. These structural flaws make it harder for working women to achieve self-sufficiency. This report is an update to the original 2016 report, and outlines the structural flaws and disincentives in our public benefit system and offers policy recommendations to help correct this system.