Indicators of Welfare Dependence: 2005 Research Brief

In 2002, 3.2 percent of the total population was considered dependent because they received more than half of their total family income from TANF, food stamps, and/or SSI. This rate is marginally higher than the 3.1 percent dependency rate measured in 2001. Overall, 4.7 million fewer Americans were dependent on welfare in 2002 than in 1996, the year of passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Poverty rates have also declined since 1996. Since 1996, food stamp and TANF receipt have decreased significantly, while SSI receipt has remained stable. Recipients of means-tested assistance were more likely to move out of dependency in the early 2000s than in the early 1990s. About three-tenths (29 percent) of recipients who received more than 50 percent of their total income from means-tested assistance programs in 2002 transitioned out of this dependency status in 2003.