Everyone is still on welfare: The role of redistribution in social policy

Most people have an inaccurate assessment of who is "on welfare." Two decad es have passed since Social Work published the original version of this art icle, which applied Titmuss's framework of a three-tiered social welfare sy stem and showed that nearly "everyone is on welfare." Based on new data and a more in-depth analysis, this article re-examines who benefits from and w ho pays for social, fiscal, and corporate welfare and concludes that all th ree welfare systems continue to serve and to favor the middle class, wealth y households, and large corporations. Social workers can work to transform the system from one that rewards power and privilege to one that ensures di stributive justice for all.