Food stamps. Unemployment benefits. Social security. Earned income tax credits.
Do these social welfare programs work? Yes, according to a new study from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Safety nets like food stamps prevent millions more people from struggling to put food on the table, says Jake Grovum, who analyzed the data for the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Consider Grovum’s findings:
- For people of all ages, the official poverty rate in the US was 14.5%. That’s equivalent to 45.3 million people.
- Without food stamps, the poverty rate would be 17.10% – another 8 million Americans would be living in poverty.
- Without social security, the poverty rate for Americans 65 and older would be 52.67% instead of the current 14.6%.
- Without tax credits like the federal earned income tax credit, poverty for children under 18 would be 22.8% instead of the official poverty rate of 19.9%.
– The Guardian