49.1 percent of the US population that lives in a household where at least one member received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2011, up from 30% in the early 1980s and 44.4% as recently as the third quarter of 2008. As of early 2011, 15% of people lived in a household that received food stamps, 26% had someone enrolled in Medicaid and 2% had a member receiving unemployment benefits. The Census data show that 16% of the population lives in a household where at least one member receives Social Security and 15% receive or live with someone who gets Medicare. There is likely a lot of overlap. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/26/number-of-the-week-half-of-u-s-lives-in-household-getting-benefits/
When the food stamp program was first expanded nationally in the 1970s, just 1 in 50 Americans participated. The 2002 Farm Bill expanded eligibility to noncitizens, made it easier to enroll, increased benefits for families with more children, and adjusted benefits for inflation. The 2008 Farm Bill further eased eligibility requirements, and included higher minimum benefits. Spending after changes in eligibility grew by $185 billion between 2002 and 2008. The 2009 stimulus bill scrapped limits on SNAP benefits to adults without children and raised the maximum benefit by 13.6 percent through 2014. About 20% of the $198 billion growth in between 2009 and 2011 can be attributed to the new eligibility standards, and thus they will not go away once the economy recovers. Veronique de Rugy, “The great Bush-Obama food stamp expansion,” The Washington Examiner, June 28, 2012 http://washingtonexaminer.com/the-great-bush-obama-food-stamp-expansion/article/2500895 ^
An estimated 45 million Americans received food stamps in 2011,at a cost of $78 billion. That is more than a 200% increase in money from just five years ago when 26 million people received benefits at a cost of $33 billion. Some 70 percent of the nearly $1 trillion Farm Bill recently passed by the Senate will be spent on food stamps, representing $770 billion over 10 years.^
15% of the population now receive food stamps, compared with the 7.9% participation from 1970-2000, and has been rising at a rate of 400,000 per month over the past four years [2012]. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444273704577635681206305056.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion#printMode
During February 2010, 1 in 8 Americans were enrolled for food stamps. Since reaching 31.78 million in December 2008, enrollment in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has set a record each month. USDA estimates enrollment for fiscal year 2010, which ends Sept 30, is expected to average 40.5 million people, at a cost of up to $59 billion. Average enrollment for fiscal 2011 is predicted to be 43.3 million people. Reuters, “Food-stamp tally nears 40 million, sets record,” May 7, 2010
The Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that 45 million people in 2011 received SNAP benefits, a 70% increase from 2007. The CBO projected that one in seven U.S. residents received food stamps last year. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/04/19/food-stamp-rolls-to-grow-through-2014-cbo-says/?mod=e2tw
June 2012: Those receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program numbered 46.37 million, meaning or 15% of Americans were on food stamps. There were fewer than 31 million people on food stamps as recently as November 2008, but an aggressive effort by President Obama's administration has helped build participation, with the total increasing by 44 percent since the president took office in January 2009. http://www.nbcnews.com/business/report-15-americans-food-stamps-980690
On Nov. 7, 2012 after the 2012 election, USDA reported that 47.1 million Americans were receiving food stamps, a new all time record, and with the monthly increase of 420,947 from July being the biggest monthly increase in one year. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-11-10/foodstamps-surge-most-one-year-new-all-time-record-delayed-release
The USDA dedicated $5 million in 2011 to “improve access to and increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Oregon was the winner of the $5 million performance bonus for being the best at ensuring that people eligible for food benefits receive them and a second recognition for its swift processing of applications. http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2011/04/usda-spends-5-mil-to-recruit-food-stamp-recipients/ http://cms.oregon.egov.com/DHS/news/2011news/2011-0928.pdf?ga=t
The number of businesses approved to accept food stamps grew by a third from 2005 to 2010, U.S. Department of Agriculture records show, as vendors from convenience and dollar discount stores to gas stations and pharmacies increasingly joined the growing entitlement program. “Restaurants want a piece of food stamp pie,” USA TODAY, Money, 9/7/2011
20% of Americans (60.8 million) depend [at least in part or full?] on government for their daily housing, food and health care. On average, those on government assistance receive more than four times as much taxpayers' money per year (approx. $26,150)- as they would have in 1962, adjusting for inflation. The Heritage Foundation Index of Dependence shows a 12-fold increase from the period of during the Kennedy administration. The rate of dependency increased 31 percent over the past eight years. Heritage Foundation, “The 2009 Index of Dependence on Government,” March 4, 2010 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/03/the%202009%20index%20of%20dependence%20on%20government
2012. Around 5.3 percent of the population between the ages of 25 and 64 is currently collecting federal disability payments, a jump from 4.5 percent since the economy slid into a recession. Mental-illness claims, in particular, are surging. During the recent economic boom, only 33 percent of applicants were claiming mental illness, but that figure has jumped to 43 percent, says Rutledge, citing preliminary results from his latest research. NY. Post., Jobless disability claims soar to record $200B as of January, February 19, 2012,
In just the first four months of 2012, 539,000 joined the disability rolls and more than 725,000 put in applications. As a result, by April there were a total of 10.8 million people on disability, [SSI and SSDI?] according to Social Security Administration data, a 53% increase from a decade ago, after accounting for all those who've left the program (about 700,000 drop out each year, mainly because they reached retirement age or died). http://news.investors.com/article/608418/201204200802/ssdi-disability-rolls-skyrocket-under-obama.htm?p=full Also see http://www.akdart.com/poverty.html
A record 5.4 million workers and their dependents have signed up to collect federal disability checks since President Obama took office, according to the latest official government data, as discouraged workers increasingly give up looking for jobs and take advantage of the federal program. From June 2009, the number of new enrollees to Social Security’s disability insurance [SSDI, financed with Social Security taxes paid] program is twice the job growth figure. ^
SSDI now accounts for more than 16% of Social Security's budget and more than 15% of Medicare's (SSDI enrollees can qualify for Medicare after two years.) ^
The amount of money the federal government hands out in direct payments increased 32% during first three years of Mr. Obama's Presidency. http://patriotupdate.com/17823/food-stamps-up-45-federal-handouts-up-32
49% of people live in homes where at least one person gets a federal benefit (Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation, or subsidized housing) up 44% from the year before Obama took office. ^
More than 11 million Americans are collecting federal disability checks. Half of these beneficiaries have signed on since President Obama took office more than three years ago. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444273704577635681206305056.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion#printMode
Federal welfare spending has grown by 32 percent over the past four years [2012], partly due to President Obama’s stimulus spending and swelled by a growing number of Americans whose recession-depleted incomes now qualify them for public assistance, according to numbers released in Oct. 2012. The biggest item on the list is Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor, which made up 40 percent of all low-income assistance in 2011. The next big program is food stamps at $75 billion in 2011, or 10 percent of welfare spending. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/18/welfare-spending-jumps-32-percent-four-years/?page=all#pagebreak
In 1988, there were 4.46 million SSI [Supplemental Security Insurance], financed through general revenues from taxes, meaning benefits are not based on your prior work history] recipients, 6 million in 1993 and in 2011 there were 8 million. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-224.html; http://www.socialsecurity-disability.org/disability-benefits
Despite nearly $15 trillion in total welfare spending since Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, the poverty rate is perilously close to where it was more than 40 years ago. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/PA694.pdf
Since President Obama took office [in January 2009], federal welfare spending has increased by 41 percent, more than $193 billion per year, a 42 percent increase over welfare spending in 2008. And over the next decade, welfare spending is projected to cost taxpayers $10.3 trillion. ^
In 2011 the federal government spent roughly $668.2 billion on 126 separate and often overlapping anti-poverty programs. These include 33 housing programs run by four different cabinet departments, and 21 different programs providing food or food-purchasing assistance, along with 8 different health care programs, and six cabinet departments and five independent agencies oversee 27 cash or general assistance programs. All together, seven different cabinet agencies and six independent agencies administer at least one anti-poverty program. ^
At least 106 million (almost 1 out of 3 of all ages) Americans receive welfare benefits from one or more welfare programs (excluding Social Security, Medicare, pensions etc.), with Medicaid and food stamps having the highest percentages. ^
Medicaid is the single largest welfare program at $228 billion in 2011. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) was the second most expensive welfare program at nearly $72 billion. ^
In fiscal year 2008, anti-poverty spending was $475 billion. In fiscal year 2009, when Obama took office, it had risen to $590 billion. Income limits for eligibility have risen twice as fast as inflation since 2007 and are now roughly 10 percent higher than they were when Obama took office, representing an increase of more than $193 billion since his presidency began. ^
State and local governments provide additional funding for several of these programs and also operate a number of programs on their own, adding another $284 billion per year. If one includes state and local welfare spending, government at all levels will spend more than $952 billion this year to fight poverty, just short of the trillion dollar mark. To put this in perspective, the defense budget for 2012, including spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, totals $685 billion. ^
From the end of 1989 through 1996, the number of children receiving SSI benefits more than tripled from 265,000 to about 955,000. (Adults are considered disabled if they are unable to engage in substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment expected to result in death or last at least 12 months. 42 U.S.C. § 1382c(a)(3)(A).) United States Government Accountability Office, Statement of Daniel Bertoni, Director Education, Workforce, and Income Security, October 27, 2011 (http://waysandmeans.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Daniel_Bertoni_Testimony_1127.pdf)
SSA data show the number of child applicants with mental impairments increased 60 percent between fiscal year 2000 and fiscal year 2010, while the total number of SSI child beneficiaries with mental impairments on the rolls grew 52 percent from 543,000 to 827,000. In fiscal year 2010, about 62 percent of all SSI child applicants had a mental impairment as a primary diagnosis, and about 67 percent of those applicants were medically approved for benefits. ^
The number of children found to be medically eligible for SSI due to speech and language delay nearly tripled between fiscal years 2000 to 2010. ^
As of December 2010, the average monthly child benefit was $597. All but five states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands supplement federal SSI benefits with additional payments. ^
ADD/ADHD represent the single largest primary diagnostic group, and the number of children found to be medically eligible because of ADD/ADHD increased by more than 100 percent, even though the majority of ADD/ADHD applications over the years have been medically denied. ^
79 percent of 434,000 SSI recipients under age 18 with mental impairments who had reached their scheduled CDR [Continuing Disability Reviews] date (every 3 years) had exceeded the scheduled date by at least a year. ^
The top 10 States with the highest percentage of non-poor residents of each state signed up for government assistance were Vermont, Mississippi, Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Alaska, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Connecticut, Arkansas. http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/the-moocher-index/