Data tool

State of the Safety Net

For people and families with low incomes, help may be available from one or more of the government programs that make up the US “safety net”—programs that either provide cash or that support specific needs like food, housing, or health care. But many who are eligible for benefits do not receive them. In 2023, across six programs providing monthly cash aid or help with expenses for food, housing, heating, and cooling, participation rates ranged from under 20 percent to a high of 58 percent, with wide variation across states.

The map below shows poverty rates with current levels of benefit receipt. It also projects how the number of people in poverty would decline if all eligible people received support. Looking deeper, this tool breaks down—by state, program, and demographic group—who is eligible for the major safety net programs, the portion of eligible people who receive those benefits, and the gaps in take-up.

About the Data

The data in the State of the Safety Net webtool are produced using the Urban Institute's Analysis of Transfers, Taxes, and Income Security (ATTIS) microsimulation model. ATTIS is a comprehensive microsimulation model of the US social safety net and tax programs. The model operates on information about US families in the American Community Survey data (obtained from IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota, www.ipums.org), and can mimic the real-world operation of benefit and tax programs or hypothetical changes to rules or participation rates.

For more analysis using the ATTIS model, see https://www.urban.org/tags/attis-microsimulation-model.

Project Credits

The State of the Safety Net Initiative is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Pritzker Children's Initiative. We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Funders do not determine research findings or the insights and recommendations of Urban experts or the underlying methodology. Further information on the Urban Institute's funding principles is available here. Read our terms of service here.

We would like to thank our Urban Institute colleagues Danny Rose, Elaine Waxman, and Gregory Acs for advising on the content and strategy of this initiative. We thank Steven Yates for his management support. We would also like to thank Jordan Moeny and Brittney Spinner for their valuable input and support on this project.