Some Americans Receive $40,000 or More a Year in Government Assistance

Some Americans receive $40,000 or more a year in government assistance benefits, according to a reportfrom the Congressional Research Service.

“Many families received a relatively small benefit during the year—more than 10 million families received less than $1,000 in benefits,” states the report. “However, a few families tend to receive high benefit amounts.”

One in four families evaluated in 2012 received a total of $9,027 or more in benefits, and half received $3,300 or more.

An analysis by the group found that a single mother of two children, working full-time at the minimum wage could receive almost $9,000 in combined benefits from the food stamp program, the Earned Income Tax Credit program and the Additional Child Tax Credit program.

“It looks like a small number of households are getting multiple benefits, and when you add up child care, housing, SNAP, and EITC you could well reach the $40,000 mark (child care can be $12,000+ per year and housing can be $15,000+ per year),” explained Angela Rachidi, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

The report finds that the median benefit from each of the nine programs added together totals $28,814.

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