Submitted by: agcomm,  Thu Nov 20 09:45:32 1997


                        November 20, 1997
 
Government Payments to North Dakotans Up
 
     North Dakotans received more than $2.3 billion in transfer
payments from the government in 1996, an increase of 31.1 percent
over the $1.8 billion they received in 1991, according to the
latest Economic Brief from the State Data Center at North Dakota
State University.  
     "This percentage increase was less than the increases in
Minnesota, Montana and South Dakota, and less than in the United
States as a whole," said Richard Rathge, director of the State
Data Center. "But it still represents a notable increase in light
of deficit reduction measures and welfare reform legislation."
     Transfer payments are government or business payments
received by individuals or nonprofit organizations for which no
services were rendered.  They include such things as retirement
payments, medical and disability insurance payments, unemployment
insurance payments and welfare payments.
     The two largest categories of transfers to North Dakotans in
1996 were retirement and medical transfers, which together
accounted for nearly 88 percent of individual transfers and 84
percent of all transfers.
     Retirement transfers--including old-age, survivor and
disability insurance payments, plus military retirement payments
and federal, state and city government payments--came to more
than $1.2 billion in 1996, up from $965 million in 1991.
     Medical payments--consisting of Medicare, medical vendor
payments and military medical payments--accounted for 35 percent
of the state's total transfers to individuals and came to a
little more than $777 million in 1996, up from the $538 million
paid in 1991.
     Programs such as Supplementary Security Income, food stamps
and family assistance accounted for 6 percent of the state's
transfers to individuals--$137 million in 1996.
     Transfer payments to nonprofit institutions totaled $62
million in 1996, up 38.2 percent from $45 million in 1991. 
 
[EDITORS: FOR DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF TRANSFER PAYMENTS, SEE YELLOW
PUBLICATION FOLLOWING THIS STORY, "TRANSFER PAYMENTS IN NORTH
DAKOTA, 1991-1996."  THIS PUBLICATION IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE
STATE DATA CENTER, BOX 5636, NDSU, FARGO, ND 58105.]
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NDSU Agriculture Communication
Source: Richard Rathge (701) 231-8621
Editor: Barry Brissman (701) 231-7866