Welfare cuts paired with corporate bailouts transfer resources from workers to capital owners

Evidence

In 2022, the official rate of child poverty more than doubled in the US, with 5.2 million more children living in poverty. This followed a congressional decision to end emergency COVID-19 relief support with cuts in the child tax credit, food subsidies, and unemployment insurance. If the American state, like most states worldwide, increases military spending or rescues banks and supports private businesses, while simultaneously cutting welfare spending, it is structurally transferring resources from the majority of citizens who live off their wages to the 1 percent who live on gains from capital ownership, such as dividends, rents, and interest. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 144

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in tracing the mechanism across cases — the child poverty doubling is a concrete US datum anchoring the general claim. — connects to: Withholding revenue transfers forces cuts in public-sector wages for Palestinian workers — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 320; Government bailouts prevent capitalist crises from restoring profitability — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 801; Federal crisis bailouts enacted Milton Friedman’s Depression remedy of shielding the wealthy — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 508 (+2 more)