SNAP is the foundation of nutrition assistance programs. This program provides over 47 million individuals in nearly 23 million low-income households. The eligibility is not restricted to certain groups of individuals, and because of this, SNAP serves a vast amount of families with children, elderly people, and individuals with disabilities. Others eligible for SNAP include families with adults who work in low-wage jobs, unemployed workers, and those with a fixed income. The SNAP Program assists about 72 percent of people who live in households with children. Nearly 25 percent of households with seniors and individuals with disabilities, are also assisted (Rosenbaum, 2013).
SNAP has responded effectively to the recession. The amount of caseloads has increased between 2007 and 2011. The reason for this increase is because the economic recession hurt the economic resources of millions of people. This caused an increase in the number of low-income households, which also increased the amount of families and individuals who applied and qualified for help through SNAP. The 2009 Recovery Act also increased SNAP benefits. The 2009 Recovery Act was signed by President Obama on February 17, 2009. This act was passed to put forth an effort to inspire our economy, create and save jobs, and recognize the long-neglected challenges this country faces. The goals of the Recovery Act include modernizing our nation’s infrastructure, enhancing energy independence, expanding educational opportunities, improving healthcare, providing tax relief, and protecting those in greatest need (Rosenbaum, 2013). “Policy makers deemed SNAP to be effective for this purpose because of its broad reach among low-income populations and its high efficien...
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... of Social Justice (Robinson, 2014).
Works Cited
Andrews, M., & Smallwood, D. (2012). What’s behind the rise in snap participation?
Amber Waves, 1. Retrieved from http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/361018/snaprise_1_.pdf
Robinson, M. (2014). What is social justice? Informally published manuscript. Department of
Government and Justice Studies. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
Retrieved from http://gis.appstate.edu/social-justice-and-human-rights/what-social-justice
Rosenbaum, D. (2013, March 11). Snap is effective and efficient. Retrieved from
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3239
SNAP to Health. (2010). The real benefits of snap. Retrieved from
http://www.snaptohealth.org/snap/the-real-benefits-of-the-snap-program
USDA. (2013, Dec 30). Eligibility: Food and nutrition service. Retrieved from
http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility
Issitt, Micah, L. Flynn. "Welfare: An Overview." Points Of View: Welfare (2013): 1. Points of View Reference Center. Web. 5 Jan. 2014.
In the summer of 1996, Congress finally passed and the President signed the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996", transforming the nation's welfare system. The passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act sets the stage for ongoing reconstruction of welfare systems on a state-by-state basis. The combined programs will increase from nearly $100 billion this year to $130 billion per year in 6 years. Programs included are for food stamps, SSI, child nutrition, foster care, the bloss grant program for child- care, and the new block grant to take the place of AFDC. All of those programs will seek $700 billion over the next 6 years, from the taxpayers of America. This program in its reformed mode will cost $55 billion less than it was assumed to cost if there were no changes and the entitlements were left alone. The current welfare system has failed the very families it was intended to serve. If the present welfare system was working so well we would not be here today.
With more and more people becoming unemployed and applying for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), it is imperative that we understand the benefits as well as problems this causes. Even while researching this topic and talking to some of my family and friends about it, it surprised me the amount of those who do not understand food stamps. Coming from the SNAP website, “Food stamps offer nutritional assistance to millions of eligible low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities” (United States). This program helps millions of people per year and gives upwards of $75 billion and rising. With the prices of food increasing due to inflation, beneficiaries are receiving around $400 at most per month. Using the Electronic benefit transfer systems (EBT), beneficiaries can buy goods from a grocery store using a credit-card like transaction, which takes the money off of their card. The benefits are received monthly on a specific date and vary in amounts from person to person. One family may receive $300 per month because they have three kids and need the extra money, while another may receive $100 or less depending on financial status. The application process includes completing and filing an application form, being interviewed, and verifying facts crucial to determining eligibility. In the past, these applications did not require a drug screening to get benefits, but more and more states are adopting this. There are many drawbacks to SNAP as well such as taking money from working people’s paychecks every week and people abusing the system. Talking about a very opinionated subject, we must remove bias and answer whether or not the Food Stamp system should be limited.
Many families and people have become too dependent on food stamps. “Critics of food stamps and government spending, however, argue that too many families have become dependent on government aid.”(NoteCard #1) But if they did not have this program people would go hungry. “11.9 million people went hungry in the United States”... “that included nearly 700,000 children, up more than 50% from the year before.”(NoteCard #2, Point 2) The program does good and helps people but it also spends a lot of money to get people food stamps. “..food-stamp recipients has soared to 44 million from 26 million in 2007, and the costa have more than doubled to $77 billion from $33 billion.”(NoteCard #5) But in the end, is it worth it? People need the assistance. It does help people from going hungry and keeps them at least with a little food in their stomach to that keeps them from starving. A lot of people who could not get jobs, were eligible for the program because they did not have a source of income. “Critics of food stamps and government spending, however, argue that too many families have become dependent on government aid.”(NoteCard #1) Since not everyone could get work, the government changed the requirements and it went for the better and for the
In order to be eligible to receive help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the household has to meet certain tests such as, resources, income, deductions, employment requirements, immigrant eligibility, and special rules for the elderly or disabled. In order to meet the requirement for the resources test, the household may have two thousand dollars in countable resources, such as a bank account, but house and lot do not count (United States Department of Agriculture). In order to meet t...
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 21, 2009. The law had three major goals which were all aimed at stimulating a sluggish US economy. The first goal was to create new jobs and save existing ones by tax credits for hiring new employees. The second goal was to spur economic activity and investment in long term growth by increasing the amount of business asset that could be acquired by companies while allowing for immediate deductions for the cost of the assets as well as numerous tax credits for individuals and businesses. The third goal was to foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending by requiring recipients of recovery act funds to post acknowledgements on the Recovery.gov website.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps to ensure that the social minimum: bodily health is being achieved. SNAP was created to provide a way that low-income families can afford food and be adequately nourished. Also, in a utilitarianism perspective, SNAP is offered to all people as long as they can meet the eligibility requirements of the program. This ensures that the program is open to all people and that all have a fair chance at obtaining if they meet the requirements. In regards to deontological social justice, the social minimum of bodily health is met by providing people with the funds to purchase notorious foods. Then with the original position argument, SNAP benefits are given to low-income households because they have a greater need for the benefits than households with higher income. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allows for people to have a chance to meet the social minimums that all people should be able to
In the year 2015, around 40 million U.S. citizens were food insecure (Randall para. 3). Food insecurity can be defined in paragraph 3 by “[having] difficulty at some time during the year providing enough food for all their members due to a lack of resources. This 12.7% of American citizens also contains another group - children. Aged 10-17, 6.8 million adolescents struggle with a food insecurity. There have been several years of cuts to the social programs designed to help these people, along with the Great Recession continuing to leave an impact on the U.S. economy (para. 6). Under the Obama administration, $8.6 billion was cut from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps. From 1993-2001 under the Clinton administration, former President Bill Clinton’s administration “gutted the welfare system” (para. 15). Because of these budget cuts, the families who rely on food assistance from the government have been allotted less throughout the years. From a sociological perspective, the concepts of sociological imagination, class stratification, and social location are in effect when it comes to child hunger in the United States. Being hungry is an issue larger than any one individual can control.
With our national debt rising every year, there are many things that are contributing to it. Programs like food stamps benefits are meant for poor people; however, there are many that will take advantage of this program throughout history. Alex Roarty, claims that since the great depression over forty millions of people use food stamps benefits because of the loose eligibilities required and suggest that forty-one percent of people believe that it is due to edibility requirements and our own economy (“Most Americans Want Tougher Food Stamp Requirements”). With the nation’s debt soaring into the negative trillions, setting up piles of debt for our younger generation and developing poor eating habits this program is in jeopardy of deteriorating.
Food insecurity does not discriminate; it reaches many segments of society (Whitney, DeBruyne, Pinna, & Rolfes, 2007). Even through closely related to poverty, not all that have food insecurities are in poverty. Often it is the working poor that are hit the hardest. The working poor are a group that despite having a job, there income is too low to meet their need or that of their family. Most of the working poor (56%) live in families with children, so that the poverty of these workers affects many others as well (Problems Facing the Working Poor, Kim 1999). Many lower to middle class families will temporarily struggle with food insecurity at various times during the year. For these families government assistance may not immediately available. Appling for Supplemental Nutrition Assistanc...
Welfare has been a safety net for many Americans, when the alternative for them is going without food and shelter. Over the years, the government has provided income for the unemployed, food assistance for the hungry, and health care for the poor. The federal government in the nineteenth century started to provide minimal benefits for the poor. During the twentieth century the United States federal government established a more substantial welfare system to help Americans when they most needed it. In 1996, welfare reform occurred under President Bill Clinton and it significantly changed the structure of welfare. Social Security has gone through significant change from FDR’s signing of the program into law to President George W. Bush’s proposal of privatized accounts.
Today SNAP is the new name of the federal Food Stamp Program. “SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The name was changed to SNAP to meet the needs of clients, which includes a focus on nutrition and an increase in the amount of benefit received” ("supplemental nutrition,"2011). Another detail about SNAP is its ability to respond to changing needs caused by economic cycles or natural emergencies on the local, state and national levels. It is second to unemployment insurance in its responsiveness to economic changes. SNAP is very helpful to low-income families’ monthly resources, increasing the chance families is able to meet basic needs.
According to the American Psychological Association, “In 2010, the poverty threshold, or poverty line, was 22,314 dollars for a family of four” (2). People living in poverty may be forced to depend on public assistance programs such as food stamps, or more formally known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. On the exterior, this program seems to benefit hungry families, but in all actually it is actually facilitating their obesity. The formerly mentioned family of four would be qualified to receive a maximum of 688 dollars a month in food stamps (North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services). That equates to just over 170 dollars a week or 40 dollars per family member. A paltry amount such as this forces families to make difficult decisions regarding the amount and type of food they provide their family.
It is regarded as temporary help and it is attached with stigma. Snap would be considered residual welfare. Institutional welfare is seen as normal way of fulfilling social needs. There tends to be no stigma attached and it is services that all categories of people. As recently announced lunch will be free for every child in NYC public schools regardless of income. Prior to this school year some families had to pay for lunch depending on income. Additionally for the children that did qualify for the free lunch sometimes skipped out of not eating for fear of bullying or the stigma that comes along with subsidized school meals. This universal lunch program will meet the universal needs of children. Universal welfare are services that do not require children or families to meet specific eligibility criteria. It is available for all and attracts all categories of people such as public education. On the other hand, selective programs are eligibility determined on a case-to-case basis. In order for one to qualify for SNAP they are screened
He begins with a brief acknowledgement of Dr. Dorothy Pearson and her incredible contributions to social work. He then moved into discussing social justice and social equity to lay a definitional foundation for his lecture. He went on to say social justice is a process and not