LF: Welfare nation: America relying on federal aid more than at any time in history... and New York gets the most

Title: Welfare nation: America relying on federal aid more than at any time in history... and New York gets the most
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... -federal-aid-time-history.html
Published: Apr 26, 2011
Author: Daniel Bates
Post Date: 2011-04-26 18:57:36 by Sebastian
Keywords: None
Views: 12053
Comments: 25

Americans are relying on federal government spending more than at any time in the nation57;s history, new figures have revealed.

A staggering 18.3 per cent of personal income is now made up of food stamps, social security payments and benefits - and New York has more aid programmes than anywhere else in the U.S.

Actual wages accounted for the lowest slice of income since records began at just 50.5 per cent.

Every adult now receives an average of $7,427 in benefits - a 55 per cent rise from 10 years ago.

The figures show the extent to which the U.S. government is now propping up the fragile economy as it recovers from the recession.

They also underline how tough it will be to decide which areas of government spending have to be cut in order to get the $14 trillion budget deficit under control.

The analysis of government data by USA Today reveals that in 2010 the typical benefit payment of $7,427 had gone up from $4,763 in 2000 and $3,686 in 1990.

This helped push government aid up from 12.5 per cent in 2000 to 18.3 per cent of personal income on the back of expanding health care programmes, an ageing population and the recession.

In February wages hit just 50.5 per cent of personal income, the lowest since the government started keeping records in 1929.

WHICH STATES GET THE MOST CASH HANDOUTS

Payments per resident 2000 2010 Change 2000 and 2010

1. New York 6,542 9,442 2,900

2. West Virginia 6,340 9,138 2,798

3. Rhode Island 5,794 8,955 3,161

4. Maine 5,437 8,864 3,426

5. Pennsylvania 5,823 8,616 2,793

6. Massachusetts 5,424 8,541 3,117

7. Vermont 4,935 8,481 3,546

8. Kentucky 5,160 8,262 3,102

9. Michigan 4,850 8,250 3,400

10. Connecticut 5,412 8,188 2,776

11. Mississippi 4,991 8,176 3,185

12. Arkansas 4,950 8,121 3,171

13 Ohio 5,030 7,996 2,966

14. Alabama 4,919 7,943 3,024

15. Florida 5,244 7,939 2,695

Sources: USA TODAY; Bureau of Economic Analysis; Census Bureau

The total benefits bill for 2010 was $2.3 trillion, roughly the same as the year before.

'What's frightening is the Baby Boomers haven't really started to retire,' said University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes.

USA Today has ranked every state on its benefit consumption and found that New York gets more aid programmes than anywhere else.

The rising cost of the state57;s Medicaid programme helped drive up the average payout of government benefits in New York to $9,442 per person, a rise of 44 per cent over the last 10 years.

New York spends $2,903 on Medicaid alone in 2010, one third more than anywhere else.

West Virginia was also singled out for being the state with the highest amount of personal income from the government on 28 per cent

At the other end of the scale, Colorado gets just 13.2 per cent of its income from federal funding and Utah residents get the least money with $4,731 per person due to its young population.

The figures are likely to mean that the cost of Medicare and Medicaid will be a key battleground in next year's election.

Republicans have proposed turning it into a system of vouchers which will save up to $771 billion over a decade.

But Democrats have resisted such a change and instead proposed taxes on high earners, couple with less stringent cuts to tackle the deficit.

Yep. Tough love. It's for their own good. And if not, at least I won't be paying for it.