Reliance on Government Payments & Programs Rises

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson The Heritage Foundation recently released their 2010 Index of Dependence on Government, and their results are not encouraging. The findings of this year’s Index include: The Index of Dependence on Government grew by 13.6 percent in 2009; The Index of variables that moved the most over the past year were Health care and welfare at 22 percent, Rural...

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

The Heritage Foundation recently released their 2010 Index of Dependence on Government, and their results are not encouraging. The findings of this year’s Index include:

• The Index of Dependence on Government grew by 13.6 percent in 2009;
• The Index of variables that moved the most over the past year were
  • Health care and welfare at 22 percent,
  • Rural and agricultural services at 20 percent, and
  • Housing at 15 percent;
• The increase from last year means that the Index has grown by 49 percent just since 2001;
• The Index begins in 1962 and has increase by more than 14 times over the intervening 47 years through 2009;
• This rapid growth of the Index has been accompanied by a rapid increase in the percentage of people who do not pay taxes. The percentage of people who do not pay federal income taxes themselves, and who are not claimed as dependents by someone who pays federal income taxes, jumped from 14.8 percent in 1984 to 43.6 percent in 2008. Counted this way, in 1984, 34.8 million tax filers paid no taxes; in 2008, 132.5 million paid nothing.