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Also among the 151,014,000 who received benefits from one or more government programs during that period: 49,901,000 who collected Social Security; 49,073,000 who got food stamps; 46,440,000 on Medicare; 23,228,000 in the Women, Infants and Children program, 20,223,000 getting Supplemental Security Income;13,433,000 who lived in public or subsidized rental housing; 5,098,000 who got unemployment; 3,178,000 who got veterans' benefits; and 364,000 who got railroad retirement benefits.

There is a problem with lumping all of these together.

Social Security, Medicare, VA, and railroad are 'earned' benefits. People worked and paid into those, either with money or service.

Unemployment is funded initially by employers who pay into the state system. When the system is overwhelmed (more unemployed than normal), the state or FED has to increase the fund.

The others are 'unearned' benefits or special qualifications benefits.

Social Security, Medicare, VA, and railroad are 'earned' benefits. People worked and paid into those, either with money or service.

They are perceived as "earned benefits," which is why they are called entitlement programs. The reality is that they represent over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. People are getting far more out of the programs than they contributed. The average Medicare beneficiary receives three times more than they paid into the program. The premiums paid for Medicare Parts B and D cover, by law, only 25% of the costs. The rest comes from the General Fund, which is why Medicare will consume the entire federal budget if it is not reformed. It just some more redistribution of wealth.

This graph shows that the average man and woman (average defined in the study as average income over their working lives and living to the average life expectancy) who start receiving benefits in 2010 get over 3 times more in benefits than they pay in to the system! Of importance, the study accounts for inflation by calculating all past taxes and future payments in 2010 dollars to provide an accurate comparison.

If the notion that Medicare recipients are simply "getting back what they paid in" is false then where is the money coming from? Simply, the excess received is being borrowed from younger generations and the cost is more than we can bear.

-- Social Security, Medicare, VA, and railroad are 'earned' benefits ... --

That's how they were sold to the public. In reality, they are taxes, and the government has no legal obligation to honor the promises of payment. Hence, those who are in line to revceive payment from the government, from those programs, have a personal interest in having them preserved even if the programs are financially non-viable.

Not saying the programs are non-viable at this moment in time, but they are in the long run. That's why Congress keeps tinkering with eligibility.

Social Security, Medicare, VA, and railroad are ‘earned’ benefits. People worked and paid into those, either with money or service.

Unemployment is funded initially by employers who pay into the state system. When the system is overwhelmed (more unemployed than normal), the state or FED has to increase the fund.

The others are ‘unearned’ benefits or special qualifications benefits.

Good analysis. This should be part of test to be administered to pass high school, and then again college.

Many think these appear out of nowhere.

Also, wait until todays generation finds out your Social Security is actually subject to taxation... What a “ tax on a tax “.... Surprise coming.