ECONOMIC

Money TransfersAs the data in Table 48 indicate, 38 percent of the families reported receivingsome transfer payments in 1970. Social security and railroad retire-TABLE 48.—Proportion of families having transfer income from particular sources, 1970All families.Under $1,000..$l,000-$l f999_.$2,000-$2,999_.$3,000-$3,999_.$4,000-$4,999_.$5,000-$5,999_.$6,000-$6,999_.$7,000-$7,999_.$8,000-$9,999_.$10,000-$14 f999..$15,000-$24,999__$25,000 and over.Income class 1TotalPercent of families in each income classwith transfer payments26112 17241111 1622 12 12Socialsecurity andrailroadPublicassistance 2 Other 3retirement38247154127133776024872551917604312 1750359 1742275193521416302916143317171 Family income is family money income including transfer income in cash.2 Public assistance includes AFDC and assistance to the aged, blind, and disabled.3 Includes unemployment compensation, workmen's compensation, government employee pensions, veterans' benefits,and unidentified transfer payments.Source: Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (Social Security Administration).ment benefits were the most common form of transfer and were receivedby 24 percent of the families. Public assistance went to 7 percent of thefamilies; both unemployment compensation and veterans' benefits werepaid to approximately 5 percent of the families. Only 7 percent of moneyincome was derived from transfers. The average transfer per family was $696,of which 56.6 percent was from social security, 13.1 percent from publicassistance, and 30.2 percent from other sources.The higher the income, the smaller the proportion of families receivinga transfer. The percentage of income in each group derived fromgovernment transfers was also lower for higher levels of income. For example,those with incomes between $1,000 and $1,999 received an average of68 percent of their income from transfers, but only 3 percent of the incomein the $15^00 to $24,999 range was derived from transfers. Low-incomefamilies had approximately twice the dollar value of transfers that highincomefamilies had. Except for the lowest two income groups, however, themean income from government transfers for those who received transferincome was largely invariant with family income after transfers. Highincomefamilies receive a small proportion of their total income from governmenttransfers, not because of a smaller dollar transfer per recipient, butbecause they have more income from other sources (earnings and propertyincome) and fewer among them receive transfer income.177