76% Of Immigrant households on welfare

The definition of welfare is arbitrary. In this article, they are counting school lunches (I'm assuming free and reduced) as welfare which is probably (my guess anyway) why the percentage is so high.

Almost all children in public schools receive subsidies by tax payers. If their parents' tax contribution does not cover the cost of their education then their education is being subsidized. But because one group is using an additional (and relatively small) subsidy, they get lumped into the "welfare recipients" category. This is strictly political. Middle class welfare isn't called welfare, we only brand subsidies designed to help the poor as welfare and its by design.
 
Jjunk said:
How is this even possible when many of those benefits require a SS number?
Either something fishy went on with this data or we are truly screwed.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/01/immigrant-welfare-use-report/71517072/
Click to expand...
Legal immigrants have SS numbers, even if they're here on temporary visas.
Also, it would seem that this isn't simply evidence of immigrants coming here for welfare benefits (as is often asserted), they're here working:
  • Immigrants are more likely to be working than their native-born neighbors. The report found that 87% of immigrant households had at least one worker, compared to 76% for native households.
Click to expand...
Your thread title is also a bit incorrect, the report actually states that immigrant (legal and otherwise) use is:
In 2012, 51 percent of households headed by an immigrant (legal or illegal) reported that they used at least one welfare program during the year, compared to 30 percent of native households. Welfare in this study includes Medicaid and cash, food, and housing programs.
Click to expand...
The 76% comes from:
The large share of immigrants with low levels of education and resulting low incomes partly explains their high use rates. In 2012, 76 percent of households headed by an immigrant who had not graduated high school used one or more welfare programs, as did 63 percent of households headed by an immigrant with only a high school education.
Click to expand...

By focusing on households this also includes welfare services directed at children (who may well be citizens) in household access to welfare. Juvenile citizens having medicaid access or getting school lunches is going to inflate the number of immigrant households included. You may well oppose that but it is going to distort the picture a bit, these are often going to be households that actually have mixed immigration status.
 
Why are we truly screwed? According to the link immigrants are receiving welfare at about a 20% higher clip. Of course things like poor education, the inability to speak the language and a host of other factors contribute to them getting low wages. 2nd generation does much better, and 3rd generation is basically fully integrated into society.

Make the case as to why this should be a major concern (the article really didn't, but I admit I read it quickly).
 
kpt018 said:
Why are we truly screwed? According to the link immigrants are receiving welfare at about a 20% higher clip. Of course things like poor education, the inability to speak the language and a host of other factors contribute to them getting low wages. 2nd generation does much better, and 3rd generation is basically fully integrated into society.

Make the case as to why this should be a major concern (the article really didn't, but I admit I read it quickly).
Click to expand...

This.
 
Are we really surprised that migrating workers tend to concentrate in the bottom bracket of income earners, and therefore draw more heavily from social programs for help?

I mean, cool statistics, but I won't be calling all cars.
 
You want people to do jobs at well below cost of living wages, well then this is what happens.

Although 76% does seem a little high.
 
Last edited:
Seems like the beast of reason reared its ugly head, and may have ruined the direction TS had in mind for this thread.
 
Dochter said:
Legal immigrants have SS numbers, even if they're here on temporary visas.
Also, it would seem that this isn't simply evidence of immigrants coming here for welfare benefits (as is often asserted), they're here working:
Your thread title is also a bit incorrect, the report actually states that immigrant (legal and otherwise) use is:
The 76% comes from:


By focusing on households this also includes welfare services directed at children (who may well be citizens) in household access to welfare. Juvenile citizens having medicaid access or getting school lunches is going to inflate the number of immigrant households included. You may well oppose that but it is going to distort the picture a bit, these are often going to be households that actually have mixed immigration status.
Click to expand...

Legal kids of illegal parents are the anchor baby situation. It's not distorting anything to include them in "immigrant households" - everyone can be legal and they are still an immigrant household. Other than refugees, overwhelmingly on welfare, of course legal immigrants are less reliant on welfare.
 
Madmick said:
Are we really surprised that migrating workers tend to concentrate in the bottom bracket of income earners, and therefore draw more heavily from social programs for help?

I mean, cool statistics, but I won't be calling all cars.
Click to expand...

Common sense to many but if you listened to politicians exclusively, you might be surprised.
 
Meh, I don't mind them on welfare. I mind them staying on welfare.

Everyone, including immigrants, deserve a helping hand here and there.
 
nixkid said:
The definition of welfare is arbitrary. In this article, they are counting school lunches (I'm assuming free and reduced) as welfare which is probably (my guess anyway) why the percentage is so high.

Almost all children in public schools receive subsidies by tax payers. If their parents' tax contribution does not cover the cost of their education then their education is being subsidized. But because one group is using an additional (and relatively small) subsidy, they get lumped into the "welfare recipients" category. This is strictly political. Middle class welfare isn't called welfare, we only brand subsidies designed to help the poor as welfare and its by design.
Click to expand...

So the people behind this study concluded that a slice of pizza is welfare. No wonder the numbers make no sense
 
clmetal said:
Legal kids of illegal parents are the anchor baby situation. It's not distorting anything to include them in "immigrant households" - everyone can be legal and they are still an immigrant household. Other than refugees, overwhelmingly on welfare, of course legal immigrants are less reliant on welfare.
Click to expand...
Yes they are immigrant households but that's not the whole picture. You may want to slice citizens up into narrower categories but I suspect that much of the welfare--as defined here--going to immigrant households is actually directed toward citizens in the form of medicaid or milk at lunch for kids.


More broadly, the vast majority of "welfare" spending goes to kids and people too old to work. Obviously kids need to do a better job picking their parents.
 
Jjunk said:
So the people behind this study concluded that a slice of pizza is welfare. No wonder the numbers make no sense
Click to expand...
Whenever you see "welfare" being discussed on the right these days you should take whatever is said next with a grain of salt. First, the term welfare has been expanded to include just about anything--not just food stamps and subsidized housing. Subsidized school lunches are "welfare" in a lot of usage. That may be fine but it complicates any historical comparisons. Second, a lot--if not the vast, vast majority--of welfare spending is on kids and seniors. Personally I don't have a huge problem subsidizing a kid getting some milk at school or reducing an old person's heating bill.
 
Jjunk said:
So the people behind this study concluded that a slice of pizza is welfare. No wonder the numbers make no sense
Click to expand...

Exactly.

I'm pretty sure school lunches are counted as a "food program."

And yeah, a huge, rich, industrialized country importing cheap labor from poor countries isn't going to result in immigrant neighborhoods filled with private schools and engineers and accountants.

And huge, industrialized countries importing cheap labor is a universal phenomenon.
 
Jjunk said:
So the people behind this study concluded that a slice of pizza is welfare. No wonder the numbers make no sense
Click to expand...

Ahh yeah, the article you posted says so.

About 51% of immigrant-led households receive at least one kind of welfare benefit, including Medicaid, food stamps, school lunches and housing assistance, compared to 30% for native-led households, according to the report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for lower levels of immigration.
Click to expand...

Also note that the report is from "the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for lower levels of immigration."

Could it be that a group that advocates for less immigration purposely used a very broad definition of welfare solely to inflate the numbers? Hmm...I'm going to go with YES.
 
nixkid said:
A group that advocates for less immigration purposely used a very broad definition of welfare solely to inflate the numbers?
Click to expand...

/thread.

I heard in countries like UK a legal immigrant can't get benefits until 5 years later.
 
uppercutbus said:
/thread.

I heard in countries like UK a legal immigrant can't get benefits until 5 years later.
Click to expand...

This is about the US. And this was printed by USA Today, so obviously they think their conclusions are accurate.

Is it really that hard to believe? I've seen immigrants using stuff like WIC for a long time now.
 
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