Income support and safety net spending in United States lags peers: Extent to which taxes and transfer programs reduce the relative poverty rate, selected OECD countries, late 2000s
| Percentage-point reduction in relative poverty rate | |
|---|---|
| France | 25.4 |
| Germany | 23.6 |
| Finland | 22.1 |
| Belgium | 22.0 |
| Italy | 21.9 |
| Austria | 20.9 |
| Greece | 20.3 |
| United Kingdom | 20.2 |
| Luxembourg | 18.4 |
| Sweden | 18.1 |
| Slovakia | 17.5 |
| Slovenia | 17.3 |
| Netherlands | 16.9 |
| Norway | 16.0 |
| Denmark | 16.0 |
| Spain | 13.2 |
| Japan | 13.0 |
| Canada | 12.7 |
| Australia | 12.6 |
| Iceland | 12.6 |
| New Zealand | 11.4 |
| Switzerland | 10.6 |
| United States | 9.7 |
Note: This figure plots the differences between each country's pre– and post–tax and transfer relative poverty rate, where relative poverty is the share of individuals with income below half of household-size-adjusted median income.
Source: Authors' analysis of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Stat Extracts (data group labeled "late 2000s")