The Neediest Americans Are Getting The Least Government Assistance

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http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/05/14/3438045/welfare-decline-neediest/



The good news is that spending on programs to help needy Americans has increased. The bad news is that some of the neediest are actually getting less assistance.
A forthcoming paper from Robert A. Moffitt, a professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University, finds that spending on the 15 largest social safety net programs increased by 74 percent, adjusted for inflation, between 1975 and 2007. But much of that money shifted from the very poorest, those with incomes at 50 percent of the poverty line, to the more well off, such as those making 200 percent of the poverty line. This means that today, a family of four that makes under $12,000 a year likely got less assistance than a similar family making $47,700.

Meanwhile, single parents, who often struggle more financially than married ones, are also getting less while married ones get more. Single parents who weren’t disabled or under the age of 62 got 20 percent less aid in 2004 than in 1983. And even among that group, the least well off saw the biggest drop: single parent families living at 50 percent of the poverty line saw their assistance fall by 35 percent, while those with incomes above that level actually saw an increase of 73 percent.

There was also a shift in benefits to those who Americans tend to see as the “deserving” poor. Moffitt said he found that the public and the government have preferred that aid go to those who work, are married, and who have kids, and that more assistance is also going to the elderly and disabled rather than the young and able bodied. The elderly got 20 percent more assistance in 2004 than in 1983. The programs with the most growth were those that serve specific groups: the Earned income Tax Credit (EITC), which is only available to working people, the Child Tax Credit for families with children, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) that helps the elderly, blind, and disabled.

In another paper, Moffitt also found that while safety net programs grew and Congress passed temporary expansions to meet the increased need caused by the Great Recession, and that spending went to a larger swath of people, it still rose more for those living above the poverty line than those below it.

[Scuba]

1. K&R

[SamKnause]

2. Can the government of the U.S.

do anything right ???

The insanity of their policies are cruel and hateful.

We all should have been born corporations.

That would guarantee our needs would be taken care of.

Corporations first, humans last.

[yeoman6987]

3. We are all in trouble

The 1 percent might survive but the rest of us are in for a long problem unless the debt gets under control. I know Obama is doing a good job having a surplus, but he is not putting it to the debt and I think he should. If we could get our debt down by 1/2, we would be in really good shape and then cut the military (complex not people) and other things we would really be doing well.

[SamKnause]

4. Thanks for your reply and input.

I respectfully disagree.

The debt is not the problem.

How our taxes are spent (wasted) is the problem.

Corporations avoiding taxes is the problem.

Our tax dollars bailing out Wall Street is the problem.

Our two tier justice system is the problem.

CEO's being paid outrageous salaries while minimum wage is below the poverty level is the problem.

The revolving door in DC is the problem.

Corruption and greed are problems.

Our failed and expensive war against drugs is the problem.

Our military involvement all over the globe is the problem.

The U.S. has many problems and the debt is the least of them.

[yeoman6987]

5. You are certainly correct in you points

I just worry about the country bankrupting.

[jwirr]

6. Well said. If we fix these above problems the debt will fix itself from a healthier economy.