Back in 2010, I put together a “Moocher Index” as a rough measure of which states had the highest levels of welfare dependency after adjusting for poverty rates.
My goal was to answer this question.
Is there a greater willingness to sign up for income redistribution programs, all other things being equal, from one state to another?
It turned out that there were huge differences among states. Nearly 18 percent of non-poor Vermont residents were utilizing one or more welfare programs, putting them at the top of the Moocher Index.
In Nevada, by contrast, less the 4 percent of non-poor residents had their snouts in the public trough.
Does this mean Nevada residents are more self-reliant and Vermont residents are culturally statist?
To be perfectly frank, I don’t know, in part because the Moocher Index was an indirect measure of attitudes about dependency.
So I was very interested when I came across some state-by-state numbers from the Department of Agriculture showing food stamp participation compared to food stamp eligibility.
There are some clear similarities between these food stamp numbers and the Moocher Index. Maine and Vermont are in the top 3 of both lists, which doesn’t reflect well on people from that part of the country.
And Nevada and Colorado are in the bottom 10 of both lists.
But there’s no consistent pattern. Mississippi and Hawaii are in the top 10 of the Moocher Index but bottom 10 for food stamp utilization.
What really stands out, though, is that the people of California win the prize for self reliance, at least with regard to food stamps. Only 55 percent of eligible people from the Golden State have signed up for the program. Doesn’t make sense when you look at some of the crazy things that are approved by California voters, but I assume the numbers are accurate.
I’m also surprised that folks from New Jersey are relatively unlikely to utilize food stamps.
On the other hand, why are Tennessee residents so willing to use my wallet to buy food?
As you can see from the map, they not only have a very high participation/eligibility rate, but also have one of the highest overall levels of food stamp dependency.
Oregon, not surprisingly, always does poorly, whether we’re looking at a map or a list.
Let’s close with a few real-world examples of what we’re getting in exchange for the tens of billions of dollars that are being spent each year for food stamps.
- Using food stamps to buy luxury coffee at Starbucks.
- Buying steaks and lobster with food stamps.
- The Obama Administration rewarding states that sign up more food stamp recipients.
- Proposals to make it easier to use food stamps at fast food restaurants.
- College kids scamming the program for handouts.
- New York City giving food stamps to newly released prisoners and running foreign-language ads encouraging more people to sign up for the program.
- The Octo-Mom mooching off the food stamp program.
- The Agriculture Department running radio ads to lure more people into food stamp dependency.
With stories like this, I’m surprised my head didn’t explode during this debate I did on Larry Kudlow’s show.
[…] And here’s a table showing which states have the highest levels of food stamp dependency relative to the eligible […]
[…] I also shared calculations based solely on the share of eligible people who signed up for food stamps. Interestingly, […]
[…] I also shared calculations based solely on the share of eligible people who signed up for food stamps. Interestingly, […]
[…] Speaking of states, here are the states with the most and least food stamp dependency, and here is a ranking of states looking at the ratio of recipients compared to the eligible […]
[…] For what it’s worth, California has the nation’s most self-reliant people, as measured by voluntary food stamp […]
[…] While I periodically mock California, folks in the Golden State deserve praise for being the least likely to use Food Stamps. Their neighbors in Oregon, by contrast, are very proficient at […]
[…] https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/which-state-has-the-most-self-reliant-people/ […]
[…] mooch off taxpayers. By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the people of California are the least likely to sign up for food stamps. Too bad the folks in Maine, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington don’t have the same spirit of self […]
[…] By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the people of California are the least likely to sign up for food stamps. […]
[…] high welfare benefits, so you won’t be shocked to learn there’s a very high tax burden. But a surprisingly small share of the population utilizes food stamps, and the number of welfare bureaucrats is amazingly […]
[…] benefits, so you won’t be shocked to learn there’s a very high tax burden. But a surprisingly small share of the population utilizes food stamps, and the number of welfare bureaucrats is amazingly […]
[…] shown by this graphic, why are so many people in Maine taking advantage of the food stamp program? As shown by this map, […]
[…] Which State Has the Most Self-Reliant People? […]
I work at a Grocery Store and see how much food they get and it was way more than I ever had to support 3 kids. Also, I have them getting $200. wedding cakes on food stamps.
[…] If you want to know how dependency varies by state, here’s a map showing welfare payments and another map showing food stamp […]
[…] If you want to know how dependency varies by state, here’s a map showing welfare payments and another map showing food stamp […]
[…] such as Medicaid are fiscal catastrophes. The food stamp program is riddled with waste. The EITC is easily defrauded, even sending checks to prisoners. And housing subsidies are a recipe […]
[…] such as Medicaid are fiscal catastrophes. The food stamp program is riddled with waste. The EITC is easily defrauded, even sending checks to prisoners. And housing subsidies are a recipe […]
[…] Which State Has the Most Self-Reliant People? […]
[…] 4th-best in Food Stamp Participation (lowest percentage of those eligible who participate in the program). You may wonder why, if Nevada is 4th-best they’re shown as fourth from the bottom. It’s because the Department of Agriculture, where this study originated, looks at things backward and considers it a bad thing when people are self-sufficient and not collecting government benefits. (via Daniel Mitchell) […]
[…] https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/which-state-has-the-most-self-reliant-people/ […]
I am stunned that your “Moocher Index” doesn’t show DC, NYC, VA, and MD to be at the top.
I’m less troubled by people getting food stamps than I am by the crony capitalists and their political class co-conspirators who take the country for trillions.
I wonder if this could have something to do with the size of the underground economy. Both Texas and California have a huge number of illegals and a large and thriving underground economy. Accounting for that would change the denominator, reducing the actual number of eligible. While still legally eligible, it’s possible people who don’t actually need food stamps won’t bother with the hassle of it if they don’t need to.
The real question is the definition of “poor”. If you have a microwave, TV, cable, cell phone, A/C, and obesity is your major health problem, how does the “Nanny” figure you are poor? I’ve been to enough third world countries to know what poor really is.