Is the US a welfare state compared to other countries?

Twenty years ago, the US overhauled its cash welfare system - the portion of US assistance that is offered to poor families as a direct payment. But how does this system compare to other high-income countries? read more

The nations compared include Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. As a share of GDP, social welfare expenditures in the U.S. are slightly less than the average for other wealthy nations. read more

As the chart below shows, the U.S. government spends only about 19 percent of GDP on this kind of social spending, compared with around 20-31 percent for various European countries. But even when the U.S. government lets the private sector provide certain social benefits, like health insurance, it still “pays” for it in a certain sense through tax breaks, Kirkegaard argues. read more

A major difference between the US and Canada, France, the UK and Japan, is that the other countries offer additional benefits in support of children, some regardless of income. The US has a child tax credit, but it primarily reduces tax liability at the end of the year. read more