The social safety net wasn’t supposed to work like this.Decades of neoliberal choices from politicians in both parties reshaped it—turning what was meant to support people into a system that often leaves them stuck.This week, Jamie Keene, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and former Biden White House policy advisor, joins us to break down how we got here—and why today’s anti-poverty system can actually reinforce the very conditions it’s meant to solve.From requirements that trap workers in low-wage jobs to public programs that quietly subsidize those business models, we unpack how the system evolved—and what it would take to turn it into a system that actually gives people power.Jamie Keene is a stratification economics fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and a former White House policy advisor on equality and opportunity. She is also the author of From Safety Net to Power Base: Reimagining, Not Restoring, the US Antipoverty System.Further reading: From Safety Net to Power Base: Reimagining, Not Restoring, the US Antipoverty SystemWebsite: http://pitchforkeconomics.comFacebook: Pitchfork Economics PodcastBluesky: @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.socialInstagram: @pitchforkeconomicsThreads: pitchforkeconomicsTikTok: @pitchfork_econYouTube: @pitchforkeconomicsLinkedIn: Pitchfork EconomicsTwitter: @PitchforkEcon, @NickHanauerSubstack: ⁠The Pitch⁠