Total Welfare Spending

From 2003 to 2013, the combined cost of federal and state welfare spending increased by $246 billion, in 2012 dollars.

Total means-tested welfare spending includes over 80 government programs providing cash, food, housing, medical care, and targeted social services for poor and low-income Americans. Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and veterans’ benefits are not included in the total. See sources below

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Subsidized Housing Participation

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Additional Resources

• How to Get Welfare Spending Under Control
• Examining the Means-Tested Welfare State

Sources

Heritage Foundation research, 2014, based on the following:

• Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1994 Green Book: Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, 1994
• Karen Spar, “Cash and Noncash Benefits for Persons with Limited Income: Eligibility Rules, Recipient and Expenditure Data FY2002-FY2004,” Congressional Research Services Report for Congress, March 27, 2006, and earlier editions, 1976 to present
• U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, various years)
• U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, various years)
• Executive Office of the President, Office of Policy Development, Up from Dependency: A New National Public Policy Assistance Strategy (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1987)
• Ida C. Merriam and Alfred M. Skolnik, Social Welfare Expenditures Under Public Programs in the United States, 1929–66, Social Security Administration, Office of Research and Statistics Research Report No. 25, 1968
• Social Security Administration, Social Security Bulletin, various issues.

2014 Index of Culture and Opportunity

Culture | Poverty & Dependence | Opportunity
Preface | Introducing the Index of Culture and Opportunity | Overview of 2014 Index | The Blessings of Liberty

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