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Earned Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care and Development Fund, housing assistance, Low In

Earned Income Tax Credit, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Child Care and Development Fund, housing assistance, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children

macintux 3y ago
Those safety nets have huge gaps. The government doesn't want to be accused of harboring freeloaders (or, perhaps more accurately, a significant chunk of the population would rather people be homeless than a few "welfare queens" be permitted to cheat the system), so many who are genuinely in need can't get it.
- petesergeant 3y ago
  That’s true of most rich countries. The big difference between the US and most rich countries is universal healthcare.
  - Ozzie_osman 3y ago
    That is a very, very big difference.
    - petesergeant 3y ago
      It is, although it disproportionately affects people who are poor but not broke. If you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid, if you’re old there’s Medicare, 4% by some form of military healthcare, many people covered by their employers, and so on. 90% of Americans are insured. As a Britisher, obviously I’m in favour of universal healthcare, and I think the US system would benefit from it. But let’s not pretend it’s perfect there either
      - autoexec 3y ago
        > f you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid Which you still might not qualify for, and may not get even if you do qualify for it (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/15/john-oliver-medicaid https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/15/john-ol...) > 90% of Americans are insured. Which doesn't prevent nearly 40% of americans from being forced to put off needed medical care because of the expense they're still subjected to. (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/americans-put-off-health-care-because-of-cost-how-you-can-save.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/americans-put-off-health-car...) Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy.
        petesergeant 3y ago
        Again, with the caveat that I much prefer the British system... > nearly 40% of americans from being forced to put off needed medical care Hard to interpret UK NHS waiting-time figures, especially given the political weight given to them, but these[0][1] paint a picture of 6 month to >1 year waiting times. 0: https://www.boa.ac.uk/resource/boa-statement-on-nhs-app-showing-average-waiting-times-for-surgery.html https://www.boa.ac.uk/resource/boa-statement-on-nhs-app-show... 1: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/media-centre/press-releases/rtt-waiting-times-march-2023/ https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/media-centre/press-... > Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy Medical debt for non-elective treatment feels barbaric, although digging into the figures (2m personal bankruptcies a year, 60% medical) gives 0.3% of the US population declaring medical bankruptcy a year, possibly going up to 1% if you do fancier maths involving households vs people.
        defrost 3y ago
        It might be worth stressing for US audiences that the UK NHS waiting times quoted are for elective non life threatening procedures; osteoarthritis surgeries that decrease pain for people already with a degenerative joint disease, hip and knee replacements, etc. The long wait times, 22 weeks mean average, > 63 week in 8% of extreme waits, are regrettable but not indicitive of waiting for urgent emergency life threatening required non elective procedures which are relatively prompt and immediate for the most part.
  - tough 3y ago
    Life and death kinda difference innit
    - petesergeant 3y ago
      Wikipedia suggests 0.01% of the US population dies each year (30-40,000) due to lack of health insurance. I’m sure the real number is at least double.
adventured 3y ago
The US in fact has a gigantic welfare state support system. The US spends more of its GDP on social welfare than either Canada or Australia, and we spend it poorly unfortunately (our return on investment is not great, we spend too much for too weak of results, as with healthcare). To add to your list: housing, healthcare, food programs exist at the local + state + federal levels. The US state government system is huge unto itself, like having an entire other federal government nearly. There are thousands of government support programs between the state + federal levels of government. People outside of the US are almost entirely ignorant of how large the government systems in the US are. They're not as big as in France or Denmark obviously, they are still sizable compared to the median peer nation (on a GDP % basis).
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
  Mostly because the help is provided too late. We do some stuff (often not the right stuff) to prop up people struggling as adults. We do very little, relatively speaking, to enhance people's childhoods (or even just ensure that it's OK).
rajamaka 3y ago
Also all the non governmental safety nets. Food banks, charities, mutual aid networks, shelters and religious orgs.

macintux 3y ago

Those safety nets have huge gaps. The government doesn't want to be accused of harboring freeloaders (or, perhaps more accurately, a significant chunk of the population would rather people be homeless than a few "welfare queens" be permitted to cheat the system), so many who are genuinely in need can't get it.

petesergeant 3y ago
That’s true of most rich countries. The big difference between the US and most rich countries is universal healthcare.
- Ozzie_osman 3y ago
  That is a very, very big difference.
  - petesergeant 3y ago
    It is, although it disproportionately affects people who are poor but not broke. If you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid, if you’re old there’s Medicare, 4% by some form of military healthcare, many people covered by their employers, and so on. 90% of Americans are insured. As a Britisher, obviously I’m in favour of universal healthcare, and I think the US system would benefit from it. But let’s not pretend it’s perfect there either
    - autoexec 3y ago
      > f you’re truly broke, there’s Medicaid Which you still might not qualify for, and may not get even if you do qualify for it (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/15/john-oliver-medicaid https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/15/john-ol...) > 90% of Americans are insured. Which doesn't prevent nearly 40% of americans from being forced to put off needed medical care because of the expense they're still subjected to. (https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/americans-put-off-health-care-because-of-cost-how-you-can-save.html https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/americans-put-off-health-car...) Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy.
      - petesergeant 3y ago
        Again, with the caveat that I much prefer the British system... > nearly 40% of americans from being forced to put off needed medical care Hard to interpret UK NHS waiting-time figures, especially given the political weight given to them, but these[0][1] paint a picture of 6 month to >1 year waiting times. 0: https://www.boa.ac.uk/resource/boa-statement-on-nhs-app-showing-average-waiting-times-for-surgery.html https://www.boa.ac.uk/resource/boa-statement-on-nhs-app-show... 1: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/media-centre/press-releases/rtt-waiting-times-march-2023/ https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/media-centre/press-... > Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy Medical debt for non-elective treatment feels barbaric, although digging into the figures (2m personal bankruptcies a year, 60% medical) gives 0.3% of the US population declaring medical bankruptcy a year, possibly going up to 1% if you do fancier maths involving households vs people.
        defrost 3y ago
        It might be worth stressing for US audiences that the UK NHS waiting times quoted are for elective non life threatening procedures; osteoarthritis surgeries that decrease pain for people already with a degenerative joint disease, hip and knee replacements, etc. The long wait times, 22 weeks mean average, > 63 week in 8% of extreme waits, are regrettable but not indicitive of waiting for urgent emergency life threatening required non elective procedures which are relatively prompt and immediate for the most part.
- tough 3y ago
  Life and death kinda difference innit
  - petesergeant 3y ago
    Wikipedia suggests 0.01% of the US population dies each year (30-40,000) due to lack of health insurance. I’m sure the real number is at least double.

adventured 3y ago

The US in fact has a gigantic welfare state support system. The US spends more of its GDP on social welfare than either Canada or Australia, and we spend it poorly unfortunately (our return on investment is not great, we spend too much for too weak of results, as with healthcare). To add to your list: housing, healthcare, food programs exist at the local + state + federal levels. The US state government system is huge unto itself, like having an entire other federal government nearly. There are thousands of government support programs between the state + federal levels of government. People outside of the US are almost entirely ignorant of how large the government systems in the US are. They're not as big as in France or Denmark obviously, they are still sizable compared to the median peer nation (on a GDP % basis).

PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago
Mostly because the help is provided too late. We do some stuff (often not the right stuff) to prop up people struggling as adults. We do very little, relatively speaking, to enhance people's childhoods (or even just ensure that it's OK).

rajamaka 3y ago

Also all the non governmental safety nets. Food banks, charities, mutual aid networks, shelters and religious orgs.