The United States’ welfare budget totaled $1.101 trillion in fiscal year 2023, or 18% of all federal outlays. Eight different federal agencies run welfare. This analysis pulls information from the agencies to show a combined federal welfare budget. The welfare program listing is shown below. State and local welfare spending is available here.
Size of Welfare Budget
When added together, the 13 federal government welfare programs have historically represented the third-largest entitlement program – larger than the Unemployment and Medicaid Programs and smaller than Medicare and Social Security. In fiscal year 2016, Medicaid spending surpassed welfare spending on the 13 programs due to the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) – see the Medicaid page.
Welfare Programs, including the Medicaid Program, represent 18% of the federal budget.
Total Federal Spending Including Welfare
The chart to the right shows total federal spending, in billions, from fiscal year 2019 through 2023.
The federal budget increased from $4.4 trillion in 2019 to $6.1 trillion in 2023. Welfare spending increased from $773 billion to $1.1 trillion. These are dramatic increases and stem from Coronavirus relief payments. More.
Federal Spending By Welfare Program
The welfare budget of the federal government is comprised of 13 unique programs, as shown below.
The expansion of benefits for coronavirus relief increased costs in the SNAP, Refundable Income Taxes, and Housing Assistance Programs over 2020 and 2021. For more information, see the Coronavirus Relief Bill.
Picture of the Welfare Budget
Here is a picture of the entire welfare system from 1963 to 2023 and further information on the picture.
More on welfare growth.
Here is additional information on Entitlements, Welfare, and Poverty:
Spending numbers come from USGovernmentSpending.com. Retrieved March 13, 2023. Available here. Account descriptions for each welfare line item within USGovernmentSpending.com are shown on individual program pages, such as SNAP.