Study finds 47% of non-citizen households and 28% of U.S.-born households used at least one welfare program

-born Americans. Researchers Steven Camarota and Karen Zeigler drew on a combined five-year sample of Census Bureau data from the 2021 to 2025 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. The study measured welfare use at the household level, counting a household as a recipient if any member received benefits.

Traditional welfare programs included in the analysis are food stamps, Medicaid, the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, free or reduced-price school meals, and subsidized housing.

-born household welfare usage reached 19 percentage points. The disparity was most pronounced in states with large non-citizen populations.

-born households. Rates stood at 55 percent in Massachusetts, 54 percent in California, 53 percent in Arizona, and 50 percent in Maryland. -born minor child. -born children, a key driver of the overall gap.

Higher welfare use among non-citizen households was not tied to lower workforce participation. -born households. The authors said income levels and family size, not employment status, drive welfare eligibility.

They noted that many non-citizens have lower levels of formal education and correspondingly lower wages. The Center for Immigration Studies describes itself as a non-partisan research organization but advocates for lower levels of immigration. Its findings on immigrant welfare use have been disputed by other immigration researchers, including at the Cato Institute, who argue that the household-level measurement affects the conclusions.