We Are the 96 Percent!

~ Laura

Suzanne Mettler and John Sides have a good blog post up at the New York Times. Using 2008 survey data, they found that 96% of Americans have received a government benefit at one time or another. 

Benefits differed slightly based on party affiliation. "Republicans were more likely to have used the G.I. Bill and Social Security retirement and survivors’ benefits, while more Democrats had taken advantage of Medicaid and unemployment insurance." 

The problem is that people don't recognize that they are receiving a benefit. The authors distinguish between direct or obvious government benefits, such as unemployment and social security versus "submerged benefits" that are channeled through the tax code or private organizations. Examples of "submerged benefits," include home mortgage-interest deduction and the tax-free status of the employer contribution to employees’ health insurance.

While the authors don't say that "submerged benefits" need to be more clearly marked as a government hand out, that's the underlying conclusion. 

Published by Laura

2 thoughts on “We Are the 96 Percent!”

  1. I think there’s a difference between earned and unearned benefits. There’s a difference between unemployment benefits that people have paid into and welfare, which people have not. There’s a difference between a military pension which people put their lives on the line to earn and food stamps. There’s a difference between the benefits we give to a wounded combat veteran and the benefits we give to a sixteen year old with two children. It would be silly to suggest that the wounded combat veteran is “just like” the foolish girl and that they’re the same because “they’re both getting benefits.”

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  2. There’s a difference between unemployment benefits that people have paid into and welfare, which people have not.
    I find it absurd to claim that in general people have not paid into welfare. As the recent recession shows, many people who paid taxes for years found themselves on some type of welfare (especially food stamps). And contrasting that with unemployement benefits is problematic after the recession. Those benefits were extended by law after people paid into them. That is, everybody drawing it got more than they paid for.

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