The 2005 Index of Dependency from the Heritage Foundation documents the growth of dependency upon the federal government. It also illuminates the change in attitude that underlies this growth.
Historically, individuals and local entities typically provided more assistance than they do today. Over the course of the 20th century in particular, government came to provide more and more of the services that previously had been provided by self-help and mutual-aid organizations. Lower-cost housing is a good example. Mutual-aid, religious, and educational organizations had long provided limited housing assistance. However, after World War II, the federal and state governments began to provide the bulk of low-cost housing. Today, nearly all housing assistance comes from government.
This article explores the subject in depth and has a number of graphs illustrating the issues. The Medicare-Medicaid growth graph, as well as the Social Security graph, helps visualize the upcoming funding problems these programs will face. This is a long article but is well worth the read.