Working Paper: NBER ID: w26938
Authors: Price V. Fishback
Abstract: The growth of American governments in the twentieth century included large increases in funds for social insurance and public assistance. Social insurance has increased far more than public assistance, so “rise in the social insurance state” is a far better description of the century than “rise in the welfare state.” The United States has increased total spending in these areas as much or more as have European countries, but the U.S. spending has relied less heavily on government programs. The U.S. really has 51 different social welfare systems, and I develop estimates of these benefits across time and place and compare them to the poverty line, manufacturing earnings and benefits, state per capita incomes in the US, as well as GDP per capita in countries throughout the world.
Keywords: social insurance; public assistance; welfare state; economic history; poverty
JEL Codes: H53; H75; N32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| social insurance spending (H55) | poverty reduction (I32) |
| growth of social insurance programs (H55) | economic well-being (I31) |
| increases in social welfare spending (H53) | reductions in poverty rates (I32) |
| social insurance programs (H55) | poverty reduction (I32) |
| expansion of social welfare spending (H53) | economic well-being (I31) |
| political feasibility of social insurance programs (H55) | expansion of social insurance programs (H55) |