The scourge of the “time tax”
The miserable sludge of applying for government aid.
Explain It to Me · Vox
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Show Notes
(Originally aired May 2022) Dylan Matthews and Dara Lind are joined by Annie Lowrey (@annielowrey), a staff writer at the Atlantic, to talk about why it’s so hard for people to get government benefits. Frequently called the “time tax,” the administrative burden of applying for and distributing government benefits leads to thousands of people not getting the aid they qualify for.
References:
Annie Lowrey on Code America’s efforts to fight the Time Tax
Pamela Herd and Don Moynihan's book on administrative burden
Why Is It So Hard to Make a Website for the Government? from the New York Times
White paper — Program Recertification Costs: Evidence from SNAP
A sudden change to SSI eligibility had huge, lasting negative consequences
Credits:
Sofi LaLonde, producer and engineer
Libby Nelson, editorial adviser
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts
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