Asking the Question: Have You Ever Used a Government Social Program?

Even with highly visible programs, many respondents did not acknowledge their use: “In the case of Social Security Retirement and Survivors‘ benefits and Medicare, for example, 45 and 41 percent of beneficiaries, respectively, replied in the negative to the general-government social programs usage question.” Though it may seem that citizens are distinguishing between so-called “earned right” programs and perceived “handouts,” the data suggest that this is not true, and that Medicare and Social Security recipients are actually more likely to acknowledge using a government program than users of other programs.

Overall, the “number of direct social benefits one receives over the course of life is related to race, age, and income. Specifically, African Americans, those with lower incomes, and older individuals are more likely to have received more of these benefits.”
The data also indicate that “racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to benefit from direct benefits and less likely to benefit from submerged benefits indicates another set of cleavages in citizens‘ experiences of social policies. These findings illuminate a stratification of social citizenship in the United States that has not been recognized previously: between those whose social benefits emanate mostly from the submerged state and those whose flow mostly from visible governance.”

In sum, the “likelihood of responding that one has used a government social program increases especially when individuals receive more direct social benefits, when they have a greater comprehension of how government works, and when they identify as liberals. Conversely, the likelihood of responding in the negative increases especially when one receives more submerged benefits, has limited political knowledge, or is a conservative.”

The authors conclude, “Over the past thirty years, not only does American political discourse contain a more persistent anti-government message, but also, increasingly, many citizens benefit from expensive government social policies that obscure government‘s role in subsidizing and regulating them. As a result of both trends, many people fail to recognize government‘s role in providing for their economic security, health care, and educational opportunities.”

By John Wihbey | Journalist's Resource, a project of the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center and the Carnegie-Knight Initiative. September 18, 2012

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Asking the Question: Have You Ever Used a Government Social Program?

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