Are we on the verge of a civil war?

[GMDino]

(08-16-2023, 02:18 PM)basballguy Wrote: Here's a chart that I cherry picked (that's what we do around here right?) which outlines which states spend most on welfare per capita.  

https://www.statsamerica.org/sip/rank_list.aspx?rank_label=censgovtre_exp_1_c&item_in=040

Blue states dominating the top....red states dominating the bottom.

I don't see any sourcing for their numbers, not that I'm doubting them.  I'm assuming those numbers are how much each individual is receiving on average since it is "per capita"?

Versus the percentage of the population receiving the welfare.

This site has better source information with the same results:

https://commodity.com/blog/us-states-welfare/



Here's a little more on the per capita values since I was unsure myself:

https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/cross-center-initiatives/state-and-local-finance-initiative/state-and-local-backgrounders/public-welfare-expenditures

Quote:[color=rgba(53,53,53,var(--text-opacity))]Data: View and download each state's per capita spending by spending category
[/color]

[color=rgba(53,53,53,var(--text-opacity))]Per capita spending, however, is an incomplete metric because it doesn’t provide any information about a state’s demographics, policy decisions, administrative procedures, or residents’ choices. States with high rates of Medicaid spending per capita, for example, tend to have shares of Medicaid enrollees who are elderly or disabled that are higher than the national average. The elderly and adults with disabilities account for roughly two-thirds of Medicaid spending even though they constitute a small fraction of total recipients.4 Additionally, in states with low spending per capita on Medicaid, children tend to constitute a higher-than-average share of total recipients. Children are relatively inexpensive to cover and therefore spending per recipient and per capita is lower in these states. But high or low per capita spending could also reflect policy decisions, and specifically generous or strict eligibility requirements.  [/color]
[color=rgba(53,53,53,var(--text-opacity))]
Thus, if we consider spending as a share of the low-income population, state spending looks different. In 2019, Massachusetts spent the most of any state per low-income resident ($17,734), followed by Alaska ($16,276), New York ($15,280), and Minnesota ($14,042). The District of Columbia is again an outlier at $23,951. Per low-income resident, spending is lowest in Georgia ($4,038), Florida ($4,288), Texas ($4,486), Alabama ($4,689), and North Carolina ($4,816).5[/color]



[color=rgba(53,53,53,var(--text-opacity))](Note: Both the expenditure data and low-income population data in the text and map above are from 2019. The American Community Survey, which is the source for the low-income population data, did not release one-year estimates for 2020 due to significant data collection disruptions brought on by the pandemic. We will update the text and map when both expenditure and low-income population data are published for 2021.)[/color]

So in red states, if I read this correctly, they bring in and spend lots of welfare money but they give less per person.