This post has been republished from Professor Patricia McCoy’s Substack. Her new book, “Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-Being for All,” is available from The University of California Press.

In my last two columns, I blasted the House of Representatives for voting to throw millions of people off of health insurance in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is now pending in the Senate. As it is, half of American households live on less than a living wage, as I discuss in my new book Sharing Risk: The Path to Economic Well-being for All. And that’s with layers of social safety nets, ranging from subsidized health insurance and Food Stamps to student loan protections. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act would unravel these safety nets all at once, even though millions of working families depend on them to make ends meet.