Peer-reviewed article
Children and the US Social Safety Net: Balancing Disincentives for Adults and Benefits for Children
Anna Aizer, Hilary Williamson Hoynes, Adriana Lleras‐Muney ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper examines why the United States provides less aid to families with children as a share of GDP compared to other developed nations, and explores the relationship between safety net spending and child poverty rates. The US ranks among the lowest in public aid to families with children and has correspondingly high child poverty rates. The authors suggest this may reflect historical policy emphasis on concerns about negative behavioral effects of safety net programs on adults rather than focus on benefits for children.
Key points
- The US provides only 0.6% of GDP in aid to families with children, lower than all but Turkey among 37 OECD countries
- Only Turkey and Costa Rica have higher child poverty rates than the United States among these same 37 countries
- Countries providing less aid to families with children have higher rates of child poverty
- US policy may prioritize concerns about negative behavioral disincentives for adults over potential benefits for children
Limitations
This document is an introduction or opening section that sets up a research question rather than presenting findings or evidence. It does not describe any intervention evaluation, empirical study design, or specific outcomes measured.
Abstract
A hallmark of every developed nation is the provision of a social safety net-a collection of public programs that deliver aid to the poor. Because of their higher rates of poverty, children are often a major beneficiary of safety net programs. Countries vary considerably in both the amount of safety net aid to children and the design of their programs. The United States provides less aid to families with children as a share of GDP (0.6 percent) than most countries: Among 37 OECD countries, only Turkey provides less, as shown in Figure 1. Countries that provide less aid to families with children have higher rates of child poverty. Among these same 37 countries, only Turkey and Costa Rica have higher child poverty rates than the United States. Why does the United States appear to be such an outlier in terms of the amount of aid it provides to families and child poverty rates? While there are likely multiple reasons, in this paper we focus on one possible explanation: Past emphasis on the negative behavioral effects of safety net programs for families over the benefits of such programs for children.