Maine’s poor families need a higher minimum wage.

A decade ago a contentious debate was occurring across America. The focus was welfare reform. Regardless of how one may feel about the Clinton-era reforms, they changed the social landscape by dramatically increasing the number of single parents moving into the labor market.

Some would have us believe that Maine’s version of welfare reform proved so generous that a single mother with two children, working at a minimum-wage job, now earns more than a median-income family when you consider their public assistance benefits. Recently two Maine legislators put out a “fact” sheet making this claim and arguing that these families are doing so well they don’t need a minimum wage increase.

The Sun Journal correctly expressed great skepticism about these “facts.” In reality, this family working full time for the minimum wage earns just $13,520 a year – nearly 16 percent less than the official poverty level. Is she eligible for some help from the state? Yes, she is. But does that help put her family in a “better” position than a median-wage family? Absolutely not.

One of the most successful welfare reform strategies has been the provision of work supports, such as child care and health care, which help families like this mom with two children get and keep a job. Without assistance, child-care costs would consume all of this family’s weekly income – this mother would be simply unable to work. Without MaineCare there is little doubt that her family would be uninsured.

Despite having earnings below the poverty level, this family’s income is too high to qualify for cash welfare benefits. However, assuming she received welfare in the past, she qualifies for help with child care – but she must pay, too. She must contribute $1,217 from her annual wages of only $13,520 toward her child-care costs. The “fact” sheet neglected to factor her contribution into their calculation.

This family is also eligible for help from the food stamp program – but not the $400 a month as claimed. That’s how much a family with no other income would receive. This working family would be more likely to receive about $300 a month – $100 a month less than the amount claimed.

Next, the fact sheet claims this family “earns” $13,000 a year in MaineCare benefits. It’s hard to imagine where that number comes from. It’s higher than the average MaineCare cost for a family this size. Assuming the figure is intended to represent the cost of private coverage, imagine trying to pay this amount from annual earnings of $13,520. Without MaineCare, if a family member ended up in the emergency room, the cost of their care would be passed on by the hospital to other health insurance premium payers. Further, any MaineCare payments, such as child-care payments, go directly to providers and are not available to help with ordinary bills.

Finally, it is true that this family qualifies for the federal earned income tax credit. But while there is no denying the tax credit’s value to the family, once again the “fact” sheet misstates the actual amount that the family would receive, by about $300 a year. The EITC provides additional income to help low-income working families pay for necessities such as housing, heat, electricity and car payments that enable this single mom to get to work. But even with this help, this family’s income is just barely above the federal poverty level, a level universally recognized as out-of-date and inadequate to meet the basic needs of today’s families.

A decade after welfare reform, it is clear that getting a job and reaching self-sufficiency is not the same thing. Our state has helped many families get the child-care and health-care services they need to leave welfare behind. But before we can truly celebrate the success of welfare reform, we must do more to help families with children leave poverty behind, not just welfare. The modest, but important increase in the minimum wage legislators are considering is an important step in that direction.

Marc R. Mutty is the director of public affairs for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and a resident of Freeport. He is also the president of the board of directors of the Maine Equal Justice Partners.