State of the Safety Net
As states face potential funding cuts and shifting policies, understanding who is eligible, who participates, and where gaps exist is crucial for informing effective safety net strategies. State-by-state data on how many people receive safety net benefits is widely available. But data on how many people are actually eligible and what share of them participate has been harder to find and in some cases has not been available at all.
To fill this gap, the Urban Institute’s State of the Safety Net Initiative has created a web tool that provides, all in one place, eligibility and participation estimates for seven different programs—Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); child care subsidies; public and subsidized housing; and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)—plus eligibility estimates for the refundable child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. The tool shows information for the nation as a whole and for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Using Urban’s Analysis of Transfers, Taxes, and Income Security (ATTIS) model and real-world caseload data, the tool offers information for groups (such as children or people in metropolitan areas) when sample sizes allow and enables users to easily extract graphics for analysis or communication.
In this webinar, the Urban Institute will introduce the tool and demonstrate how to use it to explore important information, such as SNAP eligibility across age groups, LIHEAP participation by geography, and cross-state differences in TANF take-up.
With 2023 data providing a timely baseline ahead of recent policy changes, this tool offers national and state organizations a powerful resource to guide outreach and track the evolution of the post–One Big Beautiful Bill Act safety net.
