Nearly 100 million Americans received some form of government assistance in 2019, according to a 2023 estimate from the Department of Health and Human Services.
The federal government has assistance programs in place to support Americans who can’t afford food, housing, healthcare, and other needs. This is sometimes referred to as a social safety net, a system of programs designed to support people struggling economically. In 2022, around one in three Americans was enrolled in at least one of those programs, including nearly half of all American kids.
