off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
The Cato Institute released a report this week that argues that people on “welfare” are better off than low-income working families. In reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth, as we explain in our recent commentary.
Cato’s analysis makes two fundamental errors:
- It substantially overstates the help that poor jobless families receive. Cato assumes that when a parent is out of work, the family can readily access cash welfare benefits, housing assistance, nutrition assistance through SNAP (formerly food stamps) and WIC (for pregnant and new mothers, infants and young children), and Medicaid. But, very few families get that much help. Just one-third of families that are eligible for cash assistance in the state they live in actually receive it. Among those who do get help from TANF, Cato’s own figures show that just 15 percent also receive housing assistance.
- It substantially understates the help that low-income working families get. Cato ignores the fact that low-income working families are eligible for, and receive, assistance through programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, housing assistance, and WIC. These are important supports that help working families make ends meet. For example, 86 percent of children who get health insurance through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are in working families. And, more than half of able-bodied adults in households with children receiving SNAP work while receiving assistance. When families leave welfare for work, the other forms of assistance they receive — such as SNAP and housing assistance — continue and only begin to fall if the family’s earnings exceed the amount it received from cash welfare benefits.
Stay up to date
Receive the latest news and reports from the Center