Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Courses
  • Find a Job
  • Tutoring
  • Home
  • Economics, Finance, & Analytics
  • Economic Analysis & Monetary Policy

Public Safety Net - Explained

What is the Public Safety Net?

Written by Jason Gordon

Updated at March 27th, 2023

Contact Us

If you still have questions or prefer to get help directly from an agent, please submit a request.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Please fill out the contact form below and we will reply as soon as possible.

  • Marketing, Advertising, Sales & PR
    Principles of Marketing Sales Advertising Public Relations SEO, Social Media, Direct Marketing
  • Accounting, Taxation, and Reporting
    Managerial & Financial Accounting & Reporting Business Taxation
  • Professionalism & Career Development
  • Law, Transactions, & Risk Management
    Government, Legal System, Administrative Law, & Constitutional Law Legal Disputes - Civil & Criminal Law Agency Law HR, Employment, Labor, & Discrimination Business Entities, Corporate Governance & Ownership Business Transactions, Antitrust, & Securities Law Real Estate, Personal, & Intellectual Property Commercial Law: Contract, Payments, Security Interests, & Bankruptcy Consumer Protection Insurance & Risk Management Immigration Law Environmental Protection Law Inheritance, Estates, and Trusts
  • Business Management & Operations
    Operations, Project, & Supply Chain Management Strategy, Entrepreneurship, & Innovation Business Ethics & Social Responsibility Global Business, International Law & Relations Business Communications & Negotiation Management, Leadership, & Organizational Behavior
  • Economics, Finance, & Analytics
    Economic Analysis & Monetary Policy Research, Quantitative Analysis, & Decision Science Investments, Trading, and Financial Markets Banking, Lending, and Credit Industry Business Finance, Personal Finance, and Valuation Principles
  • Courses
+ More

What is the Public Safety Net?

The U.S. government has implemented a number of programs to assist those below the poverty line and those who have incomes just above the poverty line, to whom we refer as the near-poor. Such programs are called the safety net, to recognize that they offer some protection for those who find themselves without jobs or income.

Back to:ECONOMIC ANALYSIS & MONETARY POLICY

Some major programs include: 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - Under TANF, however, the federal government gives a fixed amount of money to each state. The state can then use the money for almost any program with an antipoverty component:

What is the The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) - The earned income tax credit (EITC) is a method of assisting the working poor through the tax system. 

What is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - Often called “food stamps,” Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides poor people with a card like a debit card that they can use to buy food. 

Medicaid - Medicaid is a joint health insurance program between both the states and the federal government. The federal government helps fund Medicaid, but each state is responsible for administering the program, determining the level of benefits, and determining eligibility. It provides medical insurance for certain low- income people, including those below the poverty line, with a focus on families with children, the elderly, and the disabled. 

Related Topics

  • Market Competition and Innovation
  • New Technology and Positive Externalities
  • Externality
  • Network Externality
  • Pigovian Tax
  • Coase Theorem
  • Agglomeration Diseconomies
  • Education - Private and Social Rate of Return
  • Government Approaches to Encouraging Innovation
  • Public Good
  • Public, Private, Club, Common Goods
  • Excludable and Rivalrous Goods
  • What is the Free Rider Problem for Public Goods?
  • Free Rider
  • Social Loafing
  • Role of Government in Paying for Public Goods
  • What is the Tragedy of Commons for Common Resources?
  • Income Inequality
  • Poverty Line?
  • Poverty Trap
  • Public Safety Net
  • Measuring Income Inequality
  • Lorenz Curve
  • Ladder of Opportunity
  • Tradeoff between Incentives and Income Equality
public safety net safety net

Was this article helpful?

Yes
No

Related Articles

  • Oligopsony - Explained
  • Crowding Out Effect - Explained
  • Labor Market Equilibrium - Explained
  • Imperfect Information -Equilibrium Price and Quantity?



©2011-2023. The Business Professor, LLC.
  • Privacy

  • Questions

Definition by Author

0
0
Expand