When Work Supports Don’t Support Work

Summary

This brief tells how Mississippi’s work support system fails to support working families. Readers will learn about gaps in the state’s parental health insurance coverage and explore policy ideas aimed at addressing these gaps while also strengthening the health and economic security of low-income families. 

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Tools for Policy Analysis
• Making Ends Meet in Mississippi: Addressing the Earnings Gap
• Work Supports Can Make a Difference
• When Work Supports Fail to Support Work
• A Closer Look at Work Supports: When Health Insurance Fails to Support Parents
• Box: Increasing Parental Health Care Coverage through State-level Initiatives
• The Erosion of Employer-based Health Insurance
• Endnotes

Key Takeaway

The Mississippi pipe dream: an earnings increase and decent health care coverage

In Mississippi, climbing the career ladder comes at a steep cost. An income boost can leave low-wage workers ineligible for critical benefits, including health insurance support. As a result, these workers are left to choose between two rough roads: Struggling to pay for unaffordable health care coverage or forgoing it altogether.