Freeloaders or Downtrodden?
According to a Pew Research Center report based on a survey of 2,500 adults, 55% of Americans have received at least one of the following benefits during their lifetimes:
- Unemployment benefits
- Social Security
- food stamps
- Medicaid and
These are the six largest government safety net programs. However, when factoring in veterans’ benefits and federal college loans and grants as well:
- The number rises to 70% of Americans receiving government aid.
Unemployment benefits are the most popular assistance program, with about 27% of Americans having received unemployment assistance at some point in their lifetimes, and Social Security is a close second, at 26% of Americans.
Participation in government entitlement programs has varied across incomes:
- 70% of adults earning $30,000 a year or less said they had benefited from government aid at some point.
- 39% of adults making at least $100,000 a year have received some form of aid.