[Budget of the United States Government]
[VI. Investing in the Common Good: Program Performance in Federal Functions]
[25. Income Security]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                          25.  INCOME SECURITY

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

                          Table 25-1.  FEDERAL RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF INCOME SECURITY
                                            (In millions of dollars)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               Estimate
               Function 600                   1998   -----------------------------------------------------------
                                             Actual     1999      2000      2001      2002      2003      2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spending:
  Discretionary Budget Authority..........    29,748    32,819    32,652    36,396    36,196    36,196    36,196
  Mandatory Outlays:
    Existing law..........................   192,303   202,410   214,844   223,419   232,353   240,912   250,073
    Proposed legislation..................  ........  ........       829     1,879     2,205     2,164     2,816
Credit Activity:
  Direct loan disbursements...............        35        21         7       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A
  Guaranteed loans........................        24        88        85       N/A       N/A       N/A       N/A
Tax Expenditures:
  Existing law............................   117,906   132,388   135,291   138,642   141,850   144,946   147,757
  Proposed legislation....................  ........        27       277       817       807       779       656
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
N/A=Not available

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  The Federal Government provides about $248 billion a year in cash or 
in-kind benefits to individuals through income security programs, 
including about $164 billion for programs in this chapter generally 
defined as part of the ``social safety net.'' Since the 1930s, these 
safety net programs, plus Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and 
housing assistance (each discussed in other chapters in this Section), 
have grown enough in size and coverage so that even in the worst 
economic times, most Americans can count on some form of minimum support 
to prevent destitution.
  The remaining $84 billion for income security programs include 
retirement and disability insurance (excluding Social Security, which is 
described in Chapter 26), Federal activity related to private pensions 
and Federal employee retirement and disability programs.

Major Public Benefit Programs

  The largest means-tested income security programs are Food Stamps, 
Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families (TANF), and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The various 
kinds of low-income housing assistance are discussed in Chapter 19, 
``Commerce and Housing Credit.'' These programs, along with unemployment 
compensation (which is not means-tested), form the backbone of cash and 
in-kind ``safety net'' assistance in the Income Security function.
  The major income security programs are managed by four of the High 
Impact Agencies (see Section IV, ``Improving Performance through Better 
Management''), agencies designated as such because they interact the 
most with the American people and businesses. These agencies are the 
Food and Nutrition Service, the Administration on Children and Families, 
the Social Security Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Nutrition Assistance
  Federal nutrition assistance programs are managed by the Department of 
Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The largest of all 
means-tested income security programs is the Food Stamp Program. In 
addition, FNS administers the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for 
Women, Infants and

[[Page 248]]

Children, and the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.
  Food Stamps: Food Stamps help most low-income people get a more 
nutritious diet. In an average month in 1998, 19.8 million people, or 
8.2 million households, received benefits and that year, the program 
provided total benefits of $17 billion. In 2000, the program will 
provide an average projected benefit of $75 to 20.1 million persons each 
month. Food Stamps is the only Nation-wide, low-income assistance 
program available to essentially all financially-needy households that 
does not impose non-financial criteria, such as whether households 
include children or elderly persons. (The new welfare law limits the 
eligibility of non-citizens as well as the number of months that 
childless, able-bodied individuals can receive benefits while 
unemployed.)
   In 2000, FNS will expand the number of States using 
          Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) to issue Food Stamp 
          benefits to 42 percent, compared to 36 percent in 1998, 
          improving the delivery of benefits, and increasing the ability 
          to track benefits redemption as a fraud prevention tool.
  Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC): WIC provides 
nutrition assistance, nutrition education and counseling, and health and 
immunization referrals to low-income women, infants and children. The 
program reached an average of 7.4 million people each month in 1998. The 
budget proposes $4.1 billion to serve 7.5 million people through 2000 
fulfilling the President's goal of full participation in WIC.
   In 2000, FNS, together with State public health agencies, 
          will increase the incidence of breast-feeding among WIC 
          mothers to 36 percent, compared to 34 percent in 1998.
  Child Nutrition Programs: The National School Lunch and Breakfast 
Programs provide free or low-cost nutritious meals to children in 
participating schools. In 2000, the programs will serve an estimated 
27.3 million lunches daily.
   In 2000, FNS' goal is that school districts will have reduced 
          the average percent of calories from saturated fat in school 
          lunches to 10 percent, compared to 11 percent in elementary 
          schools and 12 percent in secondary schools in 1998.
Income Assistance to Aged, Blind, and Disabled Individuals
  The SSI program, administered by the Social Security Administration 
(SSA), provides benefits to needy aged, blind, and disabled adults and 
children. In 1998, 6.3 million individuals received $27.3 billion in 
benefits. In 2000, an estimated 6.3 million individuals will receive a 
total of $28.7 billion in SSI benefits. Eligibility rules and payment 
standards are uniform across the Nation. Average monthly benefit 
payments range from $242 for aged adults to $430 for blind and disabled 
children. Most States supplement the SSI benefit.
   In 2000, SSA will process 66 percent of initial SSI aged 
          claims within 14 days of the filing date. SSA estimates that 
          only 54 percent of these claims met this goal in 1998. In 
          future years, the agency's goal is to continue to increase the 
          proportion of SSI aged claims processed within 14 days.
Income Assistance to Families
  Major income assistance for low-income families is provided through 
the TANF program, administered by the Department of Health and Human 
Service's Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Earned 
Income Tax Credit, administered by the Internal Revenue Service. In 
addition, ACF administers the Child Support Enforcement Program and the 
Child Care and Development Fund. Other income security programs run by 
ACF include refugee assistance and low-income home energy assistance.
  Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: In the 1996 welfare reform 
law, the President and Congress enacted TANF as the successor to the 60-
year-old Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. TANF, 
for which the Federal Government allocates about $16.5 billion each 
year, is designed to meet the President's goal of dramatically changing 
the Nation's welfare system into one that requires and rewards work in 
exchange for time-limited assistance. The TANF program gives States 
broad flexibility to set

[[Page 249]]

eligibility criteria and to determine the types of assistance they 
provide.
   The strong work focus of welfare reform and the economy have 
          enabled ACF to meet its goal of moving one million welfare 
          recipients into new employment before its 2000 goal date. 
          Using new program data, ACF will continue to develop measures 
          of high performance in the areas of job retention and earnings 
          gains.
  Individual Development Accounts (IDAs): The budget includes $20 
million for IDAs, to empower low-income individuals to save for a first 
home, post-secondary education, or to start a new business. ACF will 
select sites to administer this program in 1999. Performance measures 
will be developed based on the design of these programs.
  Child Support Enforcement: The Child Support Enforcement Program 
establishes and enforces the support obligations owed by noncustodial 
parents to their children. In 1998, the Federal Government provided $2.6 
billion to State and local governments to help them run this program. 
The Federal Government retained more than $1.3 billion in TANF-related 
collections from the States, making the net cost of this program to the 
Federal Government $1.2 billion. In 2000, estimated Federal costs net of 
TANF collections will be $1.9 billion. In 2000, the budget provides an 
additional $6.5 million to the Departments of Health and Human Services 
and Justice to investigate and prosecute noncustodial parents who owe 
large sums of child support.
   By October 2000, ACF will increase parents' financial support 
          for their children by increasing the amount of total child 
          support collections to $20.8 billion, an increase of 40 
          percent over 1998 and 160 percent over 1992. The agency's goal 
          is to maximize child support collections for all families 
          served in the program.
  Child Care: The Child Care and Development Fund provides grants to 
States for the purposes of providing low-income families with financial 
assistance for child care, improving the quality and availability of 
child care, and establishing, expanding or conducting early childhood 
development programs and before- and after-school programs. Federal 
child care funding has risen by 80 percent under this Administration, 
providing child care services for 1.25 million children from low-income 
working families or whose parents are moving from welfare to work.
  In addition to the $173 million increase for child care quality 
already provided by Congress for 2000, the President also proposes a 
2000 increase of $1.2 billion for child care subsidies as well as a new 
$600 million Early Learning Fund for grants to communities to improve 
early childhood education and the quality and safety of child care for 
children under five years old. For the proposed Early Learning Fund, ACF 
will measure the type of quality and safety activities funded and will 
work to establish performance measures that focus on language 
development, emergent literacy, and other child development outcomes and 
aspects of school readines.
  Access to high-quality, affordable child care is critical to the 
achievement of self-sufficiency by TANF recipients and low-income 
working families. ACF is currently developing performance measures and 
baseline data for the program's twin goals of increasing access to 
affordable care and improving the quality of care to promote children's 
development.
   In 2000, the Child Care and Development Fund, including new 
          funds, will provide child care assistance to an additional 
          500,000 low-income children over 1999.
  Earned Income Tax Credit: The EITC, a refundable tax credit for low-
income workers, has two broad goals: (1) to encourage families to move 
from welfare to work by making work pay; and (2) to reward work so 
parents who work full-time do not have to raise their children in 
poverty. In 1998, the EITC provided $29.6 billion in credits for low-
income tax filers, including spending on both tax refunds and reduced 
tax receipts. For every dollar that low-income workers earn--up to 
certain limits--they receive between seven and 40 cents as a tax credit. 
In 1998, the EITC provided an average credit of nearly $1,584 to nearly 
20 million workers and their families. In 2000, an estimated 20 million 
families will receive an average credit of $1,644.

[[Page 250]]

Unemployment Compensation
  Unemployment Compensation, administered by the Department of Labor's 
Employment and Training Administration, provides benefits, which are 
taxable, to individuals who are temporarily out of work and whose 
employer has previously paid payroll taxes to the program. The State 
payroll taxes finance the basic benefits out of a dedicated trust fund. 
States set benefit levels and eligibility criteria, which are not means-
tested. Regular benefits are typically available for up to 26 weeks of 
unemployment. In 1998, about 7.1 million persons claimed unemployment 
benefits that averaged $191 weekly. In 2000, an estimated 8.3 million 
persons will receive an average benefit of $210 a week.
  Benefits are available to experienced workers who lose their jobs 
through no fault of their own. Thus, unemployment compensation does not 
cover all of the unemployed in any given month. In 1998, on average, the 
``insured unemployed'' represented about 36 percent of the estimated 
total number of unemployed. Those who are not covered include new labor 
force entrants, re-entrants with no recent job experience, and those who 
quit their jobs voluntarily without good cause and, thus, are not 
eligible for benefits. However, others do not receive benefits because 
State laws restrict eligibility or because the unemployed worker is not 
aware of the program.
   In 2000, DOL's goal is that all States will meet the 
          Secretary's standard for promptness in paying worker claims by 
          providing 87 percent of initial intrastate payments and 70 
          percent of interstate payments within 14 days in States with a 
          waiting period and within 21 days in States without a waiting 
          period. In 1998, 78 percent of States met the interstate 
          standard and 90 percent met the intrastate standard.

Effects of Income Security Programs

  Federal safety net programs have a major effect on reducing poverty. 
Chapter 26, ``Social Security,'' explores the impact of Social Security 
alone on the income and poverty of the elderly. This section looks at 
the cumulative impact across the major programs.
  For purposes of this discussion, Government benefits includes both 
means-tested and social insurance benefits. Means-tested benefits 
include AFDC, SSI, certain veterans pensions, Food Stamps, child 
nutrition meals subsidies, rental assistance, and State-funded general 
assistance. Medicare and Medicaid greatly help eligible families who 
need medical services during the year, but experts do not agree about 
how much additional income Medicare or Medicaid coverage represents to 
the covered. Consequently, those benefits are not included in the 
analysis that follows. Social insurance benefits include Social 
Security, railroad retirement, veterans compensation, unemployment 
compensation, Pell Grants, and workers' compensation. The definition of 
income for this discussion (cash and in-kind benefits), and the notion 
of pre- and post-Government transfers, do not match the Census Bureau's 
definitions for developing official poverty statistics. Census counts 
income from cash alone, including Government transfers.
  Reducing Numbers of People in Poverty: Based on special tabulations 
from the March 1998 Current Population Survey (CPS), 56.4 million people 
were poor in 1997 before accounting for the effect of Government 
programs. After accounting for Government transfer programs and taxes, 
the number of poor fell to 29.8 million, a drop of 47 percent.
  Reducing the Poverty Gap: The poverty gap is the amount by which the 
incomes of all poor people fall below the poverty line. Before counting 
Government benefits, the poverty gap was $205.7 billion in 1997. 
Benefits from Government programs cut it by $139 billion, or 68 percent.

Employee Retirement Benefits

  Federal Employee Retirement Benefits: The Civil Service Retirement and 
Disability Program provides a defined benefit pension for 1.9 million 
Federal civilian employees and 800,000 U.S. Postal Service employees. In 
1998, the program paid $43 billion in benefits to 1.7 million retirees 
and 600,000 survivors. Along with the defined benefit, employees can 
participate in a defined contribution plan--the Thrift Savings Plan 
(TSP). Employees hired since 1983 are also covered by

[[Page 251]]

Social Security. The budget proposal to increase pension portability 
includes provisions that would allow newly-hired Federal employees to 
participate immediately in, and to roll over private sector accounts 
into, the TSP. (For a discussion of military retirement programs, see 
Chapter 27, ``Veterans Benefits and Services.'' For a discussion of 
performance measures for this program, see Chapter 29 ``General 
Government.'')
  Private Pensions: The Department of Labor's Pension and Welfare 
Benefits Administration (PWBA) establishes and enforces safeguards to 
protect the roughly $3.5 trillion in pension assets. Also at the 
Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) 
protects the pension benefits of about 42 million workers and retirees 
who earn traditional (i.e., ``defined benefit'') pensions. Through its 
early warning program, PBGC also works with solvent companies to more 
fully fund their pension promises, and has protected the benefits of 
more than 1.6 million people since its inception eight years ago. The 
budget proposes a new, simplified defined benefit plan for small 
businesses that PBGC will insure. The budget also proposes new rules to 
improve the audits of private pension plans to ensure that promised 
benefits are secure. In 2000:
   PWBA will more speedily process the exemptions that allow 
          certain financial transactions that are needed by pension 
          plans, reducing the time taken by 5.6 percent from the 1998 
          average of 179 days.
   PBGC will more quickly replace the initial calculation with 
          the final dollar levels of its pension benefits, reducing the 
          time taken by about 13 percent from seven to eight years, 
          which is the 1998 level.
  Tax Treatment of Retirement Savings: The Federal Government encourages 
retirement savings by providing income tax benefits. Generally, earnings 
devoted to workplace pension plans and to many traditional individual 
retirement accounts (IRAs) receive beneficial tax treatment in the year 
earned and ordinarily are taxed only in retirement, when lower tax rates 
usually prevail. Moreover, taxpayers can defer taxes on the interest and 
other gains that add value to these retirement accounts. For the newer 
Roth IRA accounts, contributions are made from after-tax earnings, with 
no tax deduction. However, account earnings are free from tax when the 
account is used in retirement. These tax incentives amount to $99 
billion in 2000--one of the three largest sets of preferences in the 
income tax system.