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Welfare
Federal Welfare Spending

Federal Welfare Programs

Welfare programs are government subsidies to the poor. These programs represent “entitlements” to all Americans but benefits are only paid to those who work, but earn too little.

These means-tested welfare system consists of 80+ low-income programs providing cash, food, housing, medical care, and social services to poor and lower income Americans.

For instance, SNAP enables recipients to purchase more food, Medicaid provides people with health care coverage, and Pell grant makes postsecondary education more affordable for students.

The programs most commonly used by single mothers, with benefit amounts and income limits, are described in the guide to grants for single mothers.

Federal Welfare Spending, Fiscal Year 2025

In fiscal year 2025, federal spending on the 13 largest of these low-income programs totaled $1,155 billion. Medicaid accounted for more than half of that total, followed in size by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the refundable portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit, and housing assistance.

In total, these four programs comprised more than 80% of total spending, or about $945 billion.1

Medicaid: 668.1 (57.8%)SNAP: 106.3 (9.2%)EITC and Child Tax Credit: 92.6 (8.0%)Housing Assistance: 78 (6.8%)Others: 210.5 (18.2%)Medicaid58%SNAP9%EITC and ChildTax Credit8%HousingAssistance7%Others18%$1.2Tfederalspending

Federal spending on 13 largest welfare programs, $ billion, Fiscal Year 2025

Key findings

  1. Medicaid is the largest program by a wide margin. Medicaid spending of $668.1 billion was 57.8% of the total, more than the other 12 programs combined ($487.4 billion).
  2. Four programs account for more than 80% of spending. Medicaid, SNAP, the refundable portions of the EITC and Child Tax Credit, and housing assistance together total $945 billion, or 81.8% of the total.
  3. Food assistance totals $147.7 billion. SNAP, Child Nutrition Programs and WIC together are 12.8% of the total. SNAP alone is $106.3 billion.
  4. TANF is a small share of the total. TANF spending of $17.7 billion is 1.5% of the total, about one thirty-eighth of Medicaid spending.
13 welfare programs2025, $ billionShare of total
Medicaid668.1257.8%
SNAP106.339.2%
EITC and Child Tax Credit92.648.0%
Housing Assistance78.056.8%
SSI69.566.0%
Pell Grant (Student Financial Assistance)42.173.6%
TANF17.781.5%
Child Nutrition33.492.9%
Head Start15.2101.3%
Training & Employment5.4110.5%
WIC8.0120.7%
Child Care14.8131.3%
LIHEAP4.4140.4%
Total welfare spending$1,155100%

How many welfare programs are there in the US?

There isn’t one single number, but the U.S. has over 80+ federal welfare programs, including major ones like SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, TANF (cash aid), SSI, and EITC, providing cash, food, housing, and health assistance to low-income individuals.

  1. Family Planning
  2. Consolidated Health Centers
  3. Transitional Cash and Medical Services for Refugees
  4. State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
  5. Voluntary Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit — Low Income Subsidy
  6. Medicaid
  7. Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
  8. Breast/Cervical Cancer Early Detection
  9. Maternal and Child Health Block Grant
  10. Indian Health Service
  11. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
  12. Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
  13. Additional Child Tax Credit
  14. Earned Income Tax Credit (refundable component)
  15. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  16. School Breakfast Program (free/reduced price components)
  17. National School Lunch Program (free/reduced price components)
  18. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
  19. Early Reading First
  20. Rural Education Achievement Program
  21. Mathematics and Science Partnerships
  22. Improving Teacher Quality State Grants
  23. Academic Competitiveness and Smart Grant Program
  24. Single-Family Rural Housing Loans
  25. Rural Rental Assistance Program
  26. Water and Waste Disposal for Rural Communities
  27. Public Works and Economic Development
  28. Supportive Housing for the Elderly
  29. Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
  30. Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance
  31. Community Development Block Grants
  32. Homeless Assistance Grants
  33. Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME)
  34. Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
  35. Public Housing
  36. Indian Housing Block Grants
  37. Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers
  38. Neighborhood Stabilization Program
  39. Weatherization Assistance Program
  40. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
  41. Food Program Nutrition Assistance for Puerto Rico
  42. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
  43. Nutrition Program for the Elderly
  44. Child and Adult Care Food Program
  45. Summer Food Service Program
  46. Indian Education
  47. Adult Basic Education Grants to States
  48. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
  49. Education for the Disadvantaged
  50. Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I-A)
  51. Title I Migrant Education Program
  52. Higher Education — Institutional Aid and Developing Institutions
  53. Federal Work-Study
  54. Federal TRIO Programs
  55. Federal Pell Grant
  56. Education for Homeless Children and Youth
  57. 21st Century Community Learning Centers
  58. Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP)
  59. Child Support Enforcement
  60. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (social services)
  61. Community Services Block Grant
  62. Child Care and Development Fund
  63. Head Start HHS
  64. Developmental Disabilities Support and Advocacy Grants
  65. Foster Care
  66. Adoption Assistance
  67. Social Services Block Grant
  68. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program
  69. Emergency Food and Shelter Program
  70. Legal Services Corporation
  71. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (employment and training component)
  72. Senior Community Service Employment Program
  73. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult Activities
  74. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Youth Activities
  75. Social Services and Targeted Assistance for Refugees
  76. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) (employment and training)
  77. Foster Grandparents
  78. Job Corps
  79. Grants to States for Low-Income Housing in place of Low-Income Housing Credit Allocations
  80. Tax Credit Assistance Program
  81. Older Americans Act Grants for Supportive Services and Senior Centers
  82. Older Americans Act Family Caregiver Program
  83. Indian Human Services
Sources & notes
Data and figures on this page come from the sources and notes below:

Footnotes

  1. Spending refers to outlays, the payments the federal government made during the fiscal year, not the amounts Congress appropriated. ↩

  2. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 11.3, Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program, fiscal year 2025, Medicaid ↩

  3. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 11.3, Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program, fiscal year 2025, SNAP (formerly Food stamps) (including Puerto Rico) ↩

  4. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 11.3, Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program, fiscal year 2025, Earned income tax credit and Child Tax Credit and Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (refundable portions paid as outlays) ↩

  5. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 3.2, Outlays by Function and Subfunction, fiscal year 2025, 604 Housing assistance ↩

  6. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, September 2025, Table 5, Supplemental Security Income Program ↩

  7. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, September 2025, Table 5, Student Financial Assistance ↩

  8. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, September 2025, Table 5, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ↩

  9. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 11.3, Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program, fiscal year 2025, Child nutrition and special milk programs ↩

  10. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, September 2025, Table 5, Children and Families Services Programs ↩

  11. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 3.2, Outlays by Function and Subfunction, fiscal year 2025, 504 Training and employment ↩

  12. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 11.3, Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program, fiscal year 2025, Supplemental feeding programs (WIC and CSFP) ↩

  13. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Monthly Treasury Statement, September 2025, Table 5, Payments to States for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Child Care Entitlement to States ↩

  14. Office of Management and Budget, Historical Table 11.3, Outlays for Payments for Individuals by Category and Major Program, fiscal year 2025, Low income home energy assistance ↩

About this information

SingleMotherGuide.com is an independent state-by-state reference guide and is not affiliated with any government agency. Program amounts and income limits are compiled from official federal and state sources, which are cited on the page, and are reviewed periodically and updated as those sources change.

The information is provided for general guidance and is not legal or financial advice. The administering agency makes the final determination of eligibility and benefit amounts. To report an error, please contact us.

Data freshness

Figures on this page are compiled from the public sources cited above and may change; refer to the cited sources for the most current information.

Last updated
Updated by
Ada Hu
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