Comment by int_19h

It's also worth remembering that in "Expanse", there'a also Mars, which is a separate state that does not have this arrangement - everyone is employed, but conversely there's no unconditional welfare.

However, it is made pretty clear in the books that the reason why this is possible for Mars is because they have this huge ongoing terraforming project that will take a century to complete. So there's always more jobs than people to fill them, basically, and it's all ultimately still paid for by the government, just not directly (via contracts to large enterprises).