NEW REPORT: The Economy: Who Benefits Most From “Safety Net” Programs, Blacks Or Hispanics? Surprise: It’s Working Class Whites

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/02/16/the-biggest-beneficiaries-of-the-government-safety-net-working-class-whites/

Tracy Jan reports in today’s Wonkblog in the Washington Post:

“Working-class whites are the biggest beneficiaries of federal poverty-reduction programs, even though blacks and Hispanics have substantially higher rates of poverty, according to a new study to be released Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Government assistance and tax credits lifted 6.2 million working-class whites out of poverty in 2014, more than any other racial or ethnic demographic. Half of all working-age adults without college degrees lifted out of poverty by safety-net programs are white; nearly a quarter are black and a fifth are Hispanic.”

******************************

This is a demographic that went for President Trump in significant numbers, but which likely would be hurt by some of the reductions and eliminations of these programs generally favored by the GOP.

PWS

02/16/17