The idea that work is godly is often attributable to the Apostle Paul. I myself have said this many times, but I’m glad to learn that I’m backed up by Saint Paul.

Work provides purpose and dignity. It strengthens families and communities. It provides the right example to the next generation. And numerous studies have shown that work can improve physical and mental health.

A friend of mine just wrote a book chronicling his tremendous success in business. When I asked him what his secret was, he used two words: work hard.

Unfortunately, work has been diminished because of bad government policies — and the bad attitudes about work that those policies have engendered.

Brad Wilcox and Grant Bailey of the Institute for Family Studies report that the 2024 current population survey indicates that 31 percent of men ages 25 to 40 who are not working full time collected some form of cash or cash-equivalent benefit. This includes food stamps, Social Security for disabilities, Supplemental Security Income, or unemployment insurance.

Nearly 4 million men in this age group are not in the labor force and received those benefits.

Then, there’s the problem of Medicaid.

About 17 percent of able-bodied men between the ages of 25 and 40 are receiving Medicaid, and another 7.4 percent are on food stamps. This has got to change.

During the Obama administration, eligibility requirements — including work requirements — were relaxed. During Covid, they were relaxed some more. During the Biden years, eligibility was relaxed even further, including illegal immigrants.

These are all reasons why Medicaid spending has exploded to more than $900 billion a year. And the rate of increase is so rapid that it threatens the solvency of the entire program.

Now, the Republican reconciliation bill will require most able-bodied Americans to work, volunteer, or be in school for at least 20 hours a week in order to qualify for the entitlement program. This means that adults who can work, but refuse to, cannot keep cheating the system.

Illegal aliens will also no longer get coverage.

Restoring work requirements is very popular.

More than six in 10 Americans, including 47 percent of Democrats, favor work requirements that would require nearly all adults to be working or looking for work in order to be enrolled in the entitlement program.

The Medicaid program itself mandates eligibility for pregnant women, single mothers, low-income seniors, and the disabled. Those are the mandated eligibility requirements. And Republicans are going to restore that mandate. 

The key point is that able-bodied young people must work.

They may not see it this way, but the dignity of work and work effort is crucial to a successful future.

As I said, work is godly.

Just ask Saint Paul.

From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.