What’s at stake: Safety net programs help struggling Americans in every state

In the midst of the heated debates on deficit reduction and job creation measures, it can be easy to lose sight of what’s at stake for low-income families and children. Our new interactive map reveals that in every state, too many Americans are living in poverty and are struggling to feed their families. The map also shows that programs like SNAP/food stamps, Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare are working to provide economic security to millions of Americans every year. Click on your state to get the facts! To see the same information for your congressional district, click here.

Here are some highlights from the map:

• In every state, at least 20 percent of residents receive some form of public health insurance through Medicare or Medicaid, with the average being nearly one in three (31.9 percent).* These programs are vital to ensuring the health and well-being of our population. At the same time, the percentage of people without health insurance across the country remains over 16 percent—approximately 49.9 million individuals.
• In 41 states (over 80 percent), at least one in five households struggles with hunger.

Click on your state to see how your state is faring in this economy and ask your member of Congress to protect effective safety net programs that keep millions from poverty and hardship each year.

Sources

• Population, Occupied households, Poverty rate, Uninsurance, SNAP, Social Security, Head Start, Medicare, and Medicaid enrollment: CAP analysis of U.S. Census Bureau. 2011. “2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates” http://www.census.gov/acs/www/.
• Pell Grant recipients: Unpublished 2011 data from the US Department of Education.
• Food hardship: Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). 2011. “Food Hardship in America 2010.” Washington, DC. Available at: http://frac.org/pdf/aug2011_food_hardship_report_children.pdf.

(*) Estimate based on adding the number of Americans on Medicare with the number under 65 and on Medicaid to remove the majority of the dual-eligible population.