are there more black people on welfare?

     A politician was quoted last week as saying that more black people are on welfare than white people. Not so. More white people are on welfare. More white people are in prison, too. More white people are a lot of things. Consider the simple math--white people make about 87% ( 87 out of every 100 ) of the population, black people about 13% ( 13 out of every 100 ) . It is popular to use any statistic that has more than 13% of the black people--in prison, on welfare, under the poverty line--as proof that "more" black people are in prison, on welfare, or under the poverty line. It's just not true, and this isn't a fine point. Black people are on welfare out of proportion to their numbers--if  more than 13% of the total on welfare are black. If the statistics are really the same, we would expect 13% ( 13 out of every 100 )of the people on welfare to be black, and 87% of them to be white or "other". They aren't. Blacks do make up more than their numbers in the population in all of these categories--proof that we need more intervention where it counts--school. But "most" of the people on welfare, in prison, and in poverty are white.

what is a welfare state?

    The phrase "welfare state" is sometimes used by writers who don't seem to understand its original meaning. A "welfare state" is a country in which the government is responsible for taking care of everyone, from cradle to grave. In the United States, our government does take responsibility for some basic needs--such as elementary education and Social Security--but not others--such as health care. In a real "welfare state", the government would always be the employer of last resort ( the government would provide a job for anyone who didn't have one ). In a real "welfare state", the government would guarantee health benefits to everyone, and college to everyone who could pass the entrance exams. In a real "welfare state", the government would be paying for sick leave, maternity leave, and disability. Our government does not do these things.
    No government has money that it didn't tax its citizens to get--so it's really up to the voters or the public in each country to decide how much "welfare" their government should provide.At least in a "welfare state", everyone would have the same benefits.