New data compiled by Republicans in the Senate Budget Committee shows that the United States spent over $60,000 per household last year to support welfare programs. They based the calculations on data from the Census, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Congressional Research Services.

Let’s see how they came up with that figure. The number of households with incomes below the poverty line in 2011 was 16.8 million. If you divide the total federal and state spending by this number of households, the average spending per household in poverty was $61,194.

Let’s put this in perspective. This dollar figure is almost three times the amount the average household in poverty lives on per year. The federal poverty threshold for a family of four was $22,350. The threshold is different for families of different size.

We should also note that not all households received $61,194 worth of assistance last year. Much of the money goes to the welfare bureaucracy. And some benefits from social welfare programs go to people above the poverty line (such as Pell grants).

Nevertheless, the numbers illustrate something I have said for years about poverty programs. There is a significant overhead cost to these government programs. If we got rid of all these bureaucracies and simply wrote checks for $60,000 to every poor household, they would be much better off. I’m not advocating we do that. But perhaps you can see the point. We are spending over $60,000 a year per household to address poverty.

Imagine if we sent that amount of money to faith-based organizations, which have traditionally done a better job of helping people out of poverty. Again, that won’t happen for many reasons. First, we would hear about the separation of church and state. Second, politicians and bureaucrats would never give up the power that comes with government programs.

Perhaps you can see the point. We are spending lots of money for an inefficient government bureaucracy that is supposed to help the poor.