Perspective On Income Security and Social Services and An Agenda for Analysis.

Income Security and Social Services comprise the single largest category of Federal expenditures. Outlays for fiscal 1981 are estimated to be 300 billion--about 49 percent of the Federal budget. The effect of several factors, including demographic trends and built-in-cost-of-living escalators, will cause the cost of these programs to continue to rise. For this reason, many have concluded that Federal policy in this area represents a central, first-order challenge to the future economic stability of America and the continued viability of the U.S. social system. This report provides a prespective on many of the major issues, identifies present concerns, forecasts future developments, and briefly discusses GAOs approach to addressing these issues. Author