U.S. Census Bureau News provides a nice corollary to the recent news that 47% of Americans don’t pay any federal income taxes at all in a report titled Nearly Half of all U.S. Residents Live in Households Receiving Government Benefits:
In the third quarter of 2008, approximately 45 percent of U.S. residents lived in households in which at least one individual received government benefits, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. These benefits came from programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
According to the report, about 28.4 million households, or 24 percent of the U.S. total, received means-tested benefits — either cash or noncash — in an average month during the quarter. Medicaid (21.1 million), free or reduced-price school meals (11.5 million) and food stamps (9.3 million) were the most widely received such benefits. (Means-tested programs are those that provide cash or services to people who meet a test of need based on income and assets.) However, it was two non-means-tested programs, Social Security and Medicare, that affected the largest number of households, with 33.6 million receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits and 30.8 million receiving benefits from Medicare.
In keeping with the economic downturn, participation rates for each means-tested program were on the upswing between May and November 2008. The percentage of households receiving any type of means-tested benefit climbed from 23.2 percent to 24.7 percent between May and November of that year, with the percentage receiving food stamps increasing from 7.6 percent to 8.8 percent and the share of those receiving Medicaid rising from 17.5 percent to 18.5 percent.
The information comes from Economic Characteristics of Households in the United States: Third Quarter 2008 [PDF], which examines the roles of government-sponsored benefit programs and the labor market during the recession. Specifically, it presents data on average monthly income, participation in government-sponsored social welfare or social insurance programs and labor force activity during the period.
Depending on whether you hold a conservative or liberal view of the world, this study will be viewed in one of the following ways:
- Conservatives will cite it as evidence that hard working, successful Americans are increasingly being forced to fund people who are perfectly willing to live off the largesse of others
- Liberals will cite it is as evidence that the gap between the rich and the working poor continues to grow
Conservatives and liberals should, however, be able to agree that we don’t want a society where half of the people are funding government and the other half are being funded by the government.
What to do about it is the question.
(Hat tip: Shirl Kennedy, Docuticker)
Related Posts:
- Tax Foundation: The Rich Fund the Lion’s Share of Government
- Income Equality is My Goal, But Don’t you Dare Call Me a Socialist
- Why It’s Bad to Soak the Rich
- The Greedy Non-Rich
7 responses so far ↓
1 Mary O'Keeffe // May 17, 2010 at 9:52 am
Peter, 100% of us live in households receiving government benefits–we benefit from highways, police protection, libraries, the court system, subsidies to the medical education of our physicians, national defense, etc. Figuring out “who benefits” is not always an easy calculation. Although my own children homeschooled for most of their K-12 education, and they are in the 20s now, I consider that we got and continue to get vast amounts of benefits from the public schools.
2 Peter // May 17, 2010 at 10:26 am
Mary,
Right. And 47 percent get direct benefits on top of those benefits.
3 Mary O'Keeffe // May 17, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “direct benefits,” as distinct from other benefits.
Based on your list above, I assume that you think that a student who gets a free or subsidized lunch at their public school is getting “direct government benefits.”
What about students who don’t get a free or subsidized school lunch but who do get a free public education or a subsidized private education? Are they getting “direct benefits”?
What about those who use the services of free public libraries and museums? Are they getting “direct benefits”?
What about someone who uses a free or subsidized public park or public transit or public road? Are they getting “direct benefits”?
What about someone who gets help from the police when someone is trying to break into their house? Or from the fire department when an electrical fire breaks out? Or from the court system when someone tries to infringe their property rights?
Those all seem like pretty “direct” benefits to me.
It is hard to think of anyone who does not get “direct benefits” from some government agency or other.
4 Bob Jamison // May 17, 2010 at 2:19 pm
I would respectfully suggest to Mary that she re-read the arrticle. The type of government benefits received seems to be clearly stated.
5 Peter // May 17, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Mary,
Do you dispute the Census Bureau’s findings?
6 Income Inequality is Code Speak for Wealth Redistribution // Oct 18, 2010 at 2:44 pm
[...] 45% of Americans Live in Housenholds Receiving Government Handouts [...]
7 New York Times: America is a Banana Republic // Nov 9, 2010 at 10:09 am
[...] 45% of Americans Live in Housenholds Receiving Government Handouts [...]
Leave a Comment