Measure government impact with the 2021 10-K

This past year has underscored the role government plays in the lives of Americans. From federal money and resources used to make COVID-19 vaccines happen in record time to relief payments and unprecedented spending packages, the impact of government on federal, state, and local levels is apparent but difficult to measure.  

Until now. 

Presenting the fifth annual USAFacts Government 10-K, a central source to study the effects of government programs. It includes a thorough accounting of where the nation was just before the pandemic and includes some limited recent data to evaluate its early outcomes. 

This new 10-K yields intriguing findings on the state of the nation, such as:  
 

Americans receiving government food assistance grew by 12% in 2020

• The average number of Americans receiving monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — also known as food stamps — rose by 4.2 million to 39.9 million last year. 
   
• For comparison, 47.6 million Americans received SNAP benefits in 2013, the highest number in recent years, partly due to expanded eligibility after the Great Recession.

The senior population is growing faster than the general population

• The population of Americans over 65 grew by 35% from 2008 to 2018. Overall population growth was 7.5%.
   
• As a result, the government spent more on Social Security and Medicare (adjusted for inflation). Medicare payments increased 33% as enrollees grew by 32% and the average beneficiary cost rose 4%.

• The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed the nation’s tax code from 35% to 21% in 2018. Federal revenue from corporate income taxes — which made up 9% of 2017 federal revenue — decreased 31% from 2017 to 2018.
   
• These 2018 numbers are the first since the implementation of the act. They’ll be critical to keep in mind as the government pays for coronavirus recovery spending and considers spending packages potentially costing billions or trillions.

 More Americans are living alone and unmarried

• The average US household shrank by 8% to 2.5 people from 2008 to 2018. The share of married family households dropped from 61% to 49% over the same period.
   
• Yet, more people between 25 and 34 live at home with parents, doubling from 9% of all young adults in 1980 to 18% in 2020.
   
• In 2020, the number of US households fell for the first time since the Census Bureau’s series began in 1940; the decline was less than one-tenth of a percentage point.

After an unsteady year, Americans can use this report to stand on the same factual footing and move into the future with the data they need to make important decisions in their lives — and for the nation. Read the report here.

• Learn more about the $3.8 billion in US aid to Israel.
   
• Also, see this new report with metrics on inflation, including how used car prices rose 10% from March to April. That's the largest one-month increase since at least 1953.
   
• Plus, how much trash do Americans recycle? As of 2018, it was 24%. Read all this and more at USAFacts.org.