South By North Strategies, Ltd.

In a recent online commentary drawn from their forthcoming book, scholars Irwin Garfinkel and Timothy Smeeding correct several myths about the size and scope of America’s social welfare state. From the commentary …

Myth: In the U.S., most welfare state benefits go to the poor and near-poor.
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Fact: The way that benefits for families with children are distributed in the United States is U-shaped, wherein the poorest and richest get the largest benefits, and the working poor, lower middle class, and even the middle class fall between the cracks.
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Health care and housing are the most perversely distributed because the U.S has separate programs for aiding different income groups—with the poor receiving means-tested benefits from safety net programs and the middle and upper classes receiving employer provided and/or tax related benefits.
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The richest fifth of the population gets health benefits that are almost twice that of the poorest fifth. The richest fifth receives housing subsidies – through the mortgage interest tax deduction – that are nearly four times the housing assistance provided to the poorest fifth and about eight times the assistance provided to the lower middle and the middle class.