The problem is labels, and beyond that political parties. Politicians like labels because the parties depend on labels for branding. They want to use rhetoric to group people, like “poor” or “rich” and the second you do that you create the discontinuity.

Avoiding benefit cliffs requires more than understanding the issue of discontinuities, it requires the reduction of identity politics which neither party is on board with. Parties themselves are labels. They cater to the human desire to simplify and form tribes around those labels.