transfer payments

Cash benefits, theoretically taken from one population group and redirected to another. Typically, this is done indirectly with money withheld from one group and placed into the government treasury, which then disburses funds to the eligible other party. For example, money is transferred from younger to older people in social security, from employed to unemployed people in unemployment compensation, and from more affluent people to poor people in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). In the United States, some of the other major income transfer programs are Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicare, and Medicaid. In other countries, including most European nations, a major income transfer program is the family allowance, such as the British Family Credit in U.K. program.