What is the Public Safety Net?

The U.S. government has implemented a number of programs to assist those below the poverty line and those who have incomes just above the poverty line, to whom we refer as the near-poor. Such programs are called the safety net, to recognize that they offer some protection for those who find themselves without jobs or income.

Some major programs include: 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - Under TANF, however, the federal government gives a fixed amount of money to each state. The state can then use the money for almost any program with an antipoverty component:

What is the The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) - The earned income tax credit (EITC) is a method of assisting the working poor through the tax system. 

What is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Often called “food stamps,” Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides poor people with a card like a debit card that they can use to buy food. 

Medicaid - Medicaid is a joint health insurance program between both the states and the federal government. The federal government helps fund Medicaid, but each state is responsible for administering the program, determining the level of benefits, and determining eligibility. It provides medical insurance for certain low- income people, including those below the poverty line, with a focus on families with children, the elderly, and the disabled. 

Related Topics

• Market Competition and Innovation
• New Technology and Positive Externalities

• Externality
• Network Externality
• Pigovian Tax
• Coase Theorem
• Agglomeration Diseconomies

• Education - Private and Social Rate of Return
• Government Approaches to Encouraging Innovation
• Public Good
• Public, Private, Club, Common Goods
• Excludable and Rivalrous Goods
• What is the Free Rider Problem for Public Goods?
• Free Rider
• Social Loafing
• Role of Government in Paying for Public Goods
• What is the Tragedy of Commons for Common Resources?
• Income Inequality
• Poverty Line?
• Poverty Trap
• Public Safety Net
• Measuring Income Inequality
• Lorenz Curve
• Ladder of Opportunity
• Tradeoff between Incentives and Income Equality