By skyforbes 
For the duration of the government shutdown, which has caused CRS to suspend posting new articles, we will be publishing older articles that deal with current issues. Today’s featured article, “Need-Tested Benefits: Who Receives Assistance?” was published on 06/30/21.
Today’s featured CRS article, “Need-Tested Benefits: Who Receives Assistance?”, explain how before COVID-19, roughly one-third of Americans — about 111 million people — received at least one need-tested benefit, most commonly Medicaid/CHIP, SNAP, or refundable tax credits like the EITC/ACTC, while far fewer accessed housing aid, SSI, TANF cash, or child care subsidies. These programs tended to prioritize families with children and workers, meaning many recipients had pre-assistance incomes above poverty, whereas childless adults — especially those 18–64 without disabilities — were least likely to receive aid. During 2020–2021, Congress temporarily expanded food, housing, child care, and cash support (including advancing the child tax credit), but most changes are set to expire, returning policy toward the pre-pandemic model centered on noncash assistance and annual refunds. Using 2017 data (with TRIM3 adjustments), the report frames post-pandemic choices — such as continuing periodic child credit payments — as a tradeoff between income security and work-conditioned benefits. This article falls under the issue area of Social Welfare. From the CRS:
CRS Summary:
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the financial insecurity faced by some families. For some, these insecurities are related to the economic impact of the pandemic; for others, financial insecurity preceded the pandemic. Congress responded to the economic fall-out from the pandemic through providing ad-hoc assistance to families, and making (mostly) temporary changes to existing assistance programs.
Interested readers can find the full article here.
Congressional Communities is featuring one Congressional Research Service (CRS) article per day in an effort to share with our readers the wealth of information that the CRS makes readily available.