Is America becoming a nation of takers?
September 24, 2012
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MYTH
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FACT | |
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1
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Few nonseniors receive government benefits.
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Although almost all families with seniors use government benefits, over a third of families without any seniors were on at least one government benefit program — even before the Great Recession. Source: Nicholas Eberstadt, A Nation of Takers: America's Entitlement Epidemic (Templeton Press, 2012), 33. |
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2
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Because of means testing, welfare transfers help only the truly needy.
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In 2010, over 34 percent of American households received means-tested benefits — households which included nearly half of America's children. Yet the poverty rate was only 15.1 percent. Source: Eberstadt, 128; Census data. |
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3
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The number of families receiving government benefits has been largely stable over time.
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In 1983, fewer than 30 percent of households received one or more government benefits. By 2011, this number had skyrocketed to 49 percent. Source: Eberstadt, 31-32. |
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4
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Democrats are the party of entitlements. Republicans have tried to pare down spending.
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The growth in entitlement spending is a bipartisan phenomenon. In fact, for the last half-century, entitlement spending has grown faster under Republican presidents than under Democratic presidents. Source: Eberstadt, 23. |
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5
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Transfers are just a small part of what the government does.
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From 1940 to 1960, entitlement transfers accounted for under a third of federal spending. Today over two-thirds of federal spending goes to entitlements. In 2010 alone, governments at all levels oversaw a transfer of $2.2 trillion — three times as much as all military and defense spending that same year. Source: Eberstadt, 10. |
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A Nation of Takers: America's Entitlement Epidemic by Nicholas Eberstadt, available October 15. Preorder at Amazon.com or BN.com. Media Contact: Veronique Rodman, vrodman@aei.org, 202.862.4871 |
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