National
Center for Policy Analysis
Since the War on Poverty began under President Lyndon
Johnson, welfare spending has exploded to sixteen times its original size.
In a
2015 report from the Heritage Foundation, Robert Rector and Rachel Sheffield
tackle the welfare system, explaining how spending has skyrocketed since the
1960s.
•America has spent more on welfare than defense since
1993.
•The War on Poverty has cost $22 trillion -- three times
more than what the government has spent on all wars in American history.
•Federal and state governments spend $1 trillion in
taxpayer dollars on America's 80 means-tested welfare programs annually.
•One-third of all Americans receive benefits from at
least one welfare program.
What
has the United States gotten in return for all of this spending? It hasn't led
to a drop in the poverty rate, which remains close to the same level it was
when the War on Poverty began.
However, Rector and Sheffield point out that it's
misleading to think that Americans are not better off today -- the poverty rate
is measured based on income that does not include welfare transfers.
They offer
this example: a household receiving
$50,000 in welfare benefits would still be classified as poor if its
pre-welfare income fell below the poverty line.
So, how are poor households today doing?
Rector and
Sheffield offer a few statistics: eighty percent of America's poor households
have air conditioning, two-thirds have cable or satellite television, half have
a personal computer and 43 percent have access to the internet.
