TOTAL OF PUBLIC ASSISTANCE FUNDS REQUESTED FOR 1972

Mr. SCHERLE. Mr. Chairman, just one last question.

Mr. NATCHER. All right, Mr. Scherle.

Mr. SCHERLE. What is the total amount of welfare under your jurisdiction that we spend a year?

Mr. RUTLEDGE. On public assistance directly?

Mr. SCHERLE. Yes, just what we have been talking about, welfare. How much money does that amount to?

Miss THOMPSON. Let me give you the total. The total of District funds is $49,984,300 requested for fiscal year 1972.

Mr. SCHERLE. Is that for old-age assistance?

Miss THOMPSON. No; that is the total. Now, I can break it down. For old-age assistance it is $2,843,856. For aid to families with dependent children it is $30,625,694. For aid to the blind it is $149,892, for aid to the permanently disabled $7,794,698. For general public assistance, and that is the local program for people who do not meet the requirement for the categories, we have two. We have a regular which is $3,266,160 and then we have what we call a crisis program to keep people from being evicted by paying their rent and back utilities, so that we can stabilize them as much as possible, $504,000. Then for income supplementation it is $4,800,000, that is supplementation of wages of female heads of households.

Mr. MYERS. That is different from AFDC?

Miss THOMPSON. Yes.

Mr. SCHERLE. What did you call it, income supplementation? Miss THOMPSON. Yes. We pay them the difference between their earnings and our public assistance standard.

Mr. SCHERLE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. NATCHER. Thank you, Miss Thompson.

The committee will adjourn until 10 o'clock in the morning.

FRIDAY, JULY 16, 1971.

Mr. NATCHER. The committee will come to order.

COMPARATIVE WELFARE COSTS

Mr. Rutledge, you have presented to the committee certain charts and information concerning welfare and the cost and increase throughout the United States with a comparison of our Nation's Capital. These will be placed in the record at this point.

Mr. RUTLEDGE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. (The information follows:)

PUBLIC ASSISTANCE IN FEBRUARY 1971

More than 14 million people received cash payments for maintenance assistance in February 1971, about 200,000 or 1.5 percent more than in January. Compared with February 1970, the increase was 2.6 million or 22.5 percent. Most of those aided in February--13.1 million--got payments under the federally-aided assistance programs, and 1.1 million received general assistance, which is financed entirely from State and/or local funds. Seven out of 10 recipients were aided under the AFDC program; their payments however, comprised only 60 percent of expenditures for cash assistance in February.

Changes in numbers of recipients

Changes in the number of people who get AFDC dominate the national picture. Thus, almost 90 percent of the monthly and annual increases reported in February, occurred in this program. Every State had more recipients of AFDC in February 1971 than in February 1970 and in 8, the increase was 40 percent or more. Only five States aided fewer people in February than in January 1971.

The monthly rate of increase in this program, however, slackened somewhat in January and February 1971. To get a better picture of recent monthly changes, the following summary excludes changes in the unemployed-parent segment of the Michigan program which resulted primarily from the strike at General Motors.

The rate of increase in numbers of recipients over the last 12 months was somewhat higher--25 percent--in the 26 largest cities than in the Nation as a whole--22.5 percent. In all but 8 of the cities the percentage increase from February 1970 to February 1971 exceeded the percentage increase for the entire United States. The highest rates of increase occurred in the District of Columbia--58.6 percent--and in Detroit and Houston, where the rates were over 40 percent. The lowest percentage increase (10.3) was in Suffolk County (Boston) which had the highest recipient rate, both in 1970 and 1971.