The badge said “Trainee,” explaining tentative pokes at the touchscreen and the eagerness to give me change for a $20 instead of my $5. (Don’t worry: I pointed out the error.)
Friday’s Kansas City Star editorial notes that “The GOP has chosen an election year to launch new attacks on the poor” [ http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article206031724.html ].
That’s being kind. Along both the Missouri and Potomac rivers elected officials perpetuate the myth that all poor people are stupid and lazy con artists. They can’t be trusted to do what’s best for themselves and their families, no, they must be forced to get off their lazy asses and work, dammit, even for food stamps. If they don’t comply they – along with their kids – must be deniedgovernment help.
This simplistic lie began even before that 1970 country hit, “Welfare Cadillac.” Today that reality alternative gets pushed by venerable conservative noisemakers at the Heritage Foundation[ https://www.heritage.org/hunger-and-food-programs/report/reforming-the-food-stamp-program ], the Heartland Institute [ https://www.heartland.org/publications-resources/publications/research–commentary-establishing-work-requirements-for-snap-has-and-can-work ] and the Foundation for Government Accountability [ http://solutions.thefga.org/solutions/food-stamps/ ] among others.
All call, no, DEMAND that virtually without exception adults must work for food stamps or other government aid.
Let’s visit reality here in Missouri for a minute…
► In December 2017 in Missouri the average food stamp benefit was $1.29 per person per meal: USDA expects a prudent, skilled and Thrifty shopper to spend at least $1.61 per person per meal (and the more realistic Low-Cost shopper $2.09) [ https://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/CostofFoodDec2017.pdf ]. Food stamps, therefore, provide significantly less that what the best shopper in perfect conditions needs to spend to put healthy meals on the table.
► Almost 72% of food stampers are in families which include kids [ https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/snap_factsheet_missouri.pdf ].
► Families are most likely to need food stamps when an adult loses a job, but, remember that 55% of food stamp families with kids have working adults in the home [ http://www.frac.org/programs/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap ]
► Families spend food stamps in the community: in 2017 food stamps pumped about $1,100,000,000 through Missouri grocer store cash registers. [ https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/fsd_mhdmr/1712-family-support-mohealthnet-report.pdf totals times 12 ]
► The most common Missouri food stamp adult is a white woman in her 20’s with one child. She has a high school education. [ https://dss.mo.gov/re/pdf/fsd/2017-missouri-family-support-annual-report.pdf ]
When that most typical mom isn’t working, what’s keeping her out of the work force?
A lack of good paying jobs. Remember, a mom with a child needs 40 hours every week
at $10.00 an hour to climb above the food stamp line. In Missouri most new jobs
are part-time and pay less than $10.00 an hour. (To count for food stamps, a
job must be 20 hours or more every week of the year.)
An inability to afford child care, combined with the unavailability of child care
when needed. This is a 24/7 world, with the most job openings in health
care, retail and other fields outside the “9 to 5” realm. And, Missouri subsidies for
child care fall way short of the market rates in most areas, leaving mom to cough-
up a $50 or $75 weekly co-pay.
A lack of the right skills for a job. For example, delivery truck drivers are in short
supply. Those jobs require a Commercial Driver License, experience driving
a truck, the ability to repeatedly move heavy objects (up to 80 pounds in
many cases), clean driving and criminal records, and a series of other
requirements most people can’t meet.
You get the idea.
Yes, those of us fighting hunger want people to work and become self-sufficient. We’re happy that most people leave the food stamp rolls because their situation gets better. (Just under half are on and off in two years or less and virtually all leave within five years [ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/29/public-benefits-safety-net_n_7470060.html ].) We don’t feel it’s right to put a cocked gun to their head while they’re trying to do what’s best for them, and their family.
Oh yes, those conservative mouthpieces love to find scapegoats, even if law and facts don’t back up their claims. Over at the Heritage Foundation, one of their calls to reform food stamps includes…
Prohibit food stamp payments to illegal immigrant families. Illegal immigrants who have children born in the United States routinely receive food stamps. This policy should be changed and brought in line with existing policy on the earned income tax credit (EITC). In order to receive the EITC, parents must provide a valid Social Security number demonstrating they are residing in the U.S. lawfully and are authorized to work. The same policy should be applied in food stamps.
[See citation above]
Accept for federal government certified refugees and a remarkably small number of others, non-citizens aren’t eligible for food stamps in Missouri.
And, Missouri’s official food stamp application requires that everyone in a household be listed on the form – along with their immigration status. The form then explains that the data will be computer matched with federal government and state data bases, and, information on the form may initiate criminal action against anyone on the form. [ https://dss.mo.gov/fsd/formsmanual/FS-1-Application-for-Food-Stamp-Benefits.pdf ].
Back to that Trainee I met…I didn’t ask her if she voted for LBJ or AuH2O but I’d bet she’d have an answer. I suspect that anyone over age 75 starting a job as a fast food cashier needs more income to survive. Hey, at least she’s working, right?
Submitted by Glenn Koenen, WCD Member