The Camouflaged Safety Net: The U.S. Armed Forces as Welfare State Institution

Observers of the U.S. welfare state often contrast its low levelsof social spending with its lavish defense spending. This articledemonstrates that U.S. military institutions in fact providea segment of the population with benefits that have characteristicsof formal welfare state programs and have similar social welfarepurposes. It thus conceives of social assistance benefits formilitary families as comprising a distinct welfare state institution,one that challenges assumptions that the U.S. strategy for achievingsocial welfare goals fundamentally depends on rewarding marketparticipation and financially supporting families only underconditions of extreme poverty.