(One in 50 Americans) Living on Nothing but Food Stamps

[Robbien]

Source: NYT

<snip>

About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.

Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card.

“It’s the one thing I can count on every month — I know the children are going to have food,” Ms. Bermudez, 42, said with the forced good cheer she mastered selling rows of new stucco homes.

Members of this straitened group range from displaced strivers like Ms. Bermudez to weathered men who sleep in shelters and barter cigarettes. Some draw on savings or sporadic under-the-table jobs. Some move in with relatives. Some get noncash help, like subsidized apartments. While some go without cash incomes only briefly before securing jobs or aid, others rely on food stamps alone for many months.

The surge in this precarious way of life has been so swift that few policy makers have noticed. But it attests to the growing role of food stamps within the safety net. One in eight Americans now receives food stamps, including one in four children.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/us/03foodstamps.html?hp

[Double T]

1. Poverty is America's new growth area.

Let's continue THAT growth by reelecting the same people over and over again that landed our country in messes like this. Maybe the American people have no one to blame but themselves. It is a disgrace.

[glowing]

2. Damn those hypothetical welfare Queens.

[intheflow]

8. 1 in 8 Americans is a welfare queen!

Now there's a new meme for the teabaggers!

[dkf]

3. Wouldnt that mean they are living on their savings?

Isnt this why suzy orman tells us we need an emergency fund?

[Robbien]

4. One cannot get food stamps if they have savings

At least that is how it is in my state. Illinois rules that if a person has more than $2,000 in savings, they do not qualify for food stamps. I expect the situation is similar in other US states.

[jwirr]

5. I also didn't think you can get food stamps if you are living with relatives.

Food stamps look at the household income and that often pushes the poor relative out. Since it is a federal program standards are the same in all states so if I am wrong I would like to know.

[Melinda]

12. That is incorrect. If the recipient and family member declare they are separate households,

ie; they do not prepare or share food together, then the other parties income generally has no bearing. The greater rule is this: The Food Stamp program does ask for info about any and all relatives income, earned or unearned, but said income is not calculated into the recipients food stamp budget if the applicant/recipient is a separate household.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/applicant_recipients/eligibility.htm#income

What is a Household?

Everyone who lives together and purchases and prepares meals together is grouped together as one household. However, if a person is 60 years of age or older and he or she is unable to purchase and prepare meals separately because of a permanent disability, the person and the person's spouse may be a separate household if the others they live with do not have very much income. (More than 165 percent of the poverty level.)

Some people who live together, such as husbands and wives and most children under age 22, are included in the same household, even if they purchase and prepare meals separately.

Normally people are not eligible for SNAP benefits if an institution gives them their meals. However, there is one exception for elderly persons and one for disabled persons:

Residents of federally subsidized housing for the elderly may be eligible for SNAP benefits, even though they receive their meals at the facility.
Disabled persons who live in certain nonprofit group living arrangements (small group homes with no more than 16 residents) may be eligible for SNAP benefits, even though the group home prepares their meals for them.

More info is at the above link. :)

[Kolesar]

59. bookmarking! thanks!! eom!!!

[wellstone dem]

17. It depends

You can live with your cousins, with no problem, you can live with your parents if they are disabled and if you purchase and prepare your food separately, I can't remember the rule for siblings. So in summary, it depends, which is why people should not be so quick to assume someone is committing "WELFARE FRAUD!!!!".

[No Elephants]

51. Depends on whether the relative either has a legal obligation to support you or

claims to be willing to feed you anyway.

An unemancipated seventeen year old living with parents is differnt from a 25 year old living with parents, unless the parents of the 25 year old say they are willing to feed him or her without government help.

[dkf]

6. Just read that retirement accounts are not counted as savings

So you can be living off premature withdrawals and collect food stamps.

[closeupready]

15. Ah, okay, that answers my question below.

Thanks.

[wellstone dem]

18. That's wrong

retirement accounts are counted as savings.

[dkf]

24. Got it from the govt website.

http://www.fns.usda.gov/FSP/rules/Memo/2002/pensions.htm

There is a $2000 limit on the resources that a household may have and still receive SNAP. The limit is $3000 for a household with an elderly (age 60 or older) or a disabled member. Cash and savings are counted as resources, but funds in most retirement accounts are excluded from consideration as resources.

Recently we have received a number of questions about the excludability of various retirement plans. We believe that such questions have arisen because the 2008 Farm Bill excluded most retirement accounts from resources when determining eligibility for SNAP (as of Oct. 1, 2008). In addition, many formerly employed individuals are applying for SNAP assistance because of the economic downturn.

The following types of retirement accounts are excluded from consideration as resources: Section 401  Traditional Defined-
 Benefit Plan Employer-based retirement plan that promises retirees a certain benefit upon retirement, regardless of investment performance.
 
 Section 401(a)  Cash Balance Plan Employer-based “hybrid” plan that combines features of defined benefit and defined contribution plans. Each employee is allocated a hypothetical account, but account balances accrue at a specified rate, rather than depending on investment performance.
 
 Section 401(a)  Employee Stock
 Ownership Plan Similar to a profit-sharing plan that must be primarily invested in the employer’s stock and under which distributed benefits must be offered in the form of the employer’s stock.
 
 Section 401(a)  Keogh Plan “Informal” term for retirement plans available to self-employed people.
 
 Section 401(a)  Money Purchase
 Pension Plan Employer-based defined contribution plan under which annual contributions are fixed by a set formula.
 
 Section 401(a)  Profit-Sharing Plan Employer-based defined contribution plan under which employer contributions may, but need not be, linked to profits. Usually refers to non-matching employer contributions.
 
 Section 401(a)  Simple 401(k) 401(k)-type plans available only to small businesses: exempt from certain restrictions and subject to some limitations on employer contributions.
 
 Section 401(a)  401(k) Defined contribution plan that allows employees to defer receiving compensation in order to have the amount contributed to the plan. Commonly referred to as a “cash or deferred arrangement” (CODA). Some 401(k) plans allow after-tax Roth 401(k) contributions.
 
 Section 403(a)  403(a) Plans that are similar to 401(a) plans but Are funded through annuity insurance.
 
 Section 403(b)  403(b) Tax-sheltered annuity or custodial account plan offered by tax-exempt section 501(c) organizations or public schools.  Many are funded by employee contributions that resemble 401(k)s.
 
 Section 408  IRA Vehicle for tax-deferred retirement savings controlled by individuals rather than employers.
 
 Section 408(p)  Simple retirement
 account IRA Employer-based IRA (to which employers and employees contribute) available only to small businesses.
 
 Section 408(k)  Simplified Employee
 Pension Plan (SEP) Employer-sponsored plan available only to small businesses; allows employer to contribute to employee accounts that function as IRAs and are subject mostly to IRA rules. Generally ceased to apply in 1996.
 
 Section 408A  Roth IRA Same as IRA, except that qualified distributions are tax exempt.
 
 Section 457(b)  Eligible 457(b) Plan Funded plan offered by state and local governments or unfunded plan offered by nonprofit organizations.
 
 Section 501(c)  501(c)18 Plan Plan offered mostly by unions. Had to be set by June 1959 and are now largely obsolete.
 
 Section 8439
 of Title 5 USC  Federal Thrift
 Savings Plan Plan offered by the federal government to its employees.
 
 

Last modified: 05/15/2009
 

[Robbien]

25. The Illinois site also agrees

From the Illinois site all the items not counted are:

the home and its lot, household goods, income producing property, real estate that is up for sale, cash value of life insurance, individual retirement accounts, college savings plans, personal property, and vehicles with equity value under $1,500.

[wellstone dem]

31. I'm wrong!

Sorry! :-)

[closeupready]

14. If the savings are in retirement funds, does that count as 'savings' for IL purposes?

Because while I am not a lawyer, I believe that once you've put money away in retirement financial vehicles, it can not be seized by creditors under any circumstances. Instead, you'd have to agree to liquidate those savings in order to turn it into a seizable form of liquidity - an agreement which nobody in their right minds is going to sign on to.

[proudohioan]

7. You'd be surprised how quickly those savings go......

$20,000 to $30,000 sounds like a whole lot, especially to those of us who thought that finding the next good job was just a matter of a good education, good skills, good resume, good interviewing skills and a positive attitude! Those of us thought that it would be a matter of just a couple of months, so we kept most of our usual spending habits, trimming back just a bit. It's quite a shock to see your bank account balance after 5 months, and no job offer on the horizon. This is why you will see a lot of college graduates and other professional people working at a Wal-mart type job. The reality of the job situation is quite harsh out there. The sad thing is that most people will wait until all of that money is gone and they are staring at empty refrigerators and pantries before going to a food stamp office. Equally sad are the people who are now working a minimum wage or slightly above minimum wage jobs who don't apply for food stamps because they think that if they work, they don't qualify for food stamps. I know, I was one of them; never in a million years thought that I'd be living solely on food stamps now!

[Gormy Cuss]

9. More likely living on credit cards and selling possessions (cars, electronics, furniture)

and later on just not paying bills.

[bread_and_roses]

26. you have to exhaust most "emergency funds" - if you have any - before qualifying for most

"welfare" programs. FS does allow you to have some assets so you don't have to be utterly destitute to get help (just nearly so). But you're not going to get FS while you have three months living expenses in savings. And whatever Susy Orman and other comfortable pontificators drone on about, with wages having been stagnant for lo these thirty years or longer, very few people have the wherewithall to accumulate those "emergency funds" in any significant amount. Besides, what good would the sacrifices they would have probably had to subject themselves to in order to accumulate any "emergency funds" have done most, other than to put off the day that was coming anyway, given the numbers on extended UI and those who've dropped off the radar entirely?

These are not "normal" times, when a laid-off worker might expect to land something within three months, say. But then, times have not been "normal" for US workers - in the sense of a worker being able to construct a decent life for self and family on wages - for a very long time now...it's just been disguised by more and more family members working and cheap credit.

[wickerwoman]

50. Ditto.

I think the general wisdom was you should have savings to live on for 3 months. I had 5 months worth in the bank and it didn't mean shit because I was out of work for 17 months. Who can afford to put away 17 months worth of unemployment insurance on the salaries they pay today (and still save for retirement and a down payment on a house, which Suze Orman says should be your first priority after paying off student loans and credit cards)?

I couldn't even find temp work or McJobs. I went in for an $8 an hour seasonal job with UPS and there were 40 other people in the same interview time slot. They had eight slots a day for five days. So conceivably 1,600 people applying for the same crappy job.

[Oregone]

10. Surely this provides jobs to food stamp printers/workers

See, go new economy!

[Robbien]

16. Good try, but that's old school

Food stamps are mainly given out by a plastic card which looks like a debit card. New monthly amounts are added the first of every month automatically.

[proudohioan]

22. Ha Ha Ha! Surely you jest.....

Most counties are laying off or mandating furlough days! Welcome to the new economy! Where do you think that I used to work????!!!!!!

[Oregone]

23. Yes it was simply a joke

:)

[proudohioan]

33. Yes, I figured as much

:-)

[boppers]

42. Jobs at plastic/magnetic card makers and printers, then...

...as well as software jobs in calculating and distributing benefits.

:evilgrin:

[Donnachaidh]

38. uhh - no

In my state it's done with plastic. In fact, it's done through one of the banks that the government BAILED OUT. So they get MORE taxpayer money the taxpayer doesn't know about.

GO same old Corporate welfare economy!

[SandWalker1984]

11. Thank you Bill Clinton, Al Gore & Rahm Emanuel for NAFTA

Bill Clinton in 1993 at the signing NAFTA:

First of all, because NAFTA means jobs.
American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn't believe
that, I wouldn't support this agreement.

- snip -

But I want to say to my fellow Americans, when you live
in a time of change the only way to recover your security and to
broaden your horizons is to adapt to the change, to embrace, to move forward.

- snip -

I believe that NAFTA will create 200,000 American jobs in
the first two years of its effect. I believe if you look at the
trends -- and President Bush and I were talking about it this morning
-- starting about the time he was elected president, over one-third of
our economic growth, and in some years over one-half of our net new
jobs came directly from exports. And on average, those export-related
jobs paid much higher than jobs that had no connection to exports.


I believe that NAFTA will create a million jobs in the
first five years of its impact. And I believe that that is many more
jobs than will be lost, as inevitably some will be as always happens
when you open up the mix to a new range of competition.


NAFTA will generate these jobs by fostering an export
boom to Mexico; by tearing down tariff walls which have been lowered
quite a bit by the present administration of President Salinas, but
are still higher than Americans.


Well working Americans, you are now reaping the results of NAFTA. Oh, it's been great for corporate America. But Americans cannot live, support families, buy houses and consumer goods on service job wages. Which explains why so many working Americans are now on food stamps.

Again, thank you Bill Clinton for giving us NAFTA.

[onehandle]

19. Good thing NAFTA was done away with. nt

[boppers]

43. 1993-1999 were boom years.

Turned into a nasty bubble for some, a huge benefit for others. I know I've personally picked up about $20K in my life as a result of NAFTA, going to Mexico on software consulting gigs.

[TheWatcher]

55. Well, as long as you got YOURS, we should just feel good and bear it.

1993-1999 was a fake, unsustainable Boom fueled partially by speculation, reckless monetary policy, and and unsustainable dot com Bubble that ended up affecting a lot more than "some".

The Bubble of 2003-2008 followed, and was just as fake, artificial, and unsustainable as the one before it, and the fallout ended up being one of the largest financial Crisis on a GLOBAL LEVEL in history.

What has followed that is a fake, unsustainable Bubble that we are being told is a "Recovery".

Bubble Economics is not the answer.

Neither is NAFTA.

Despite how much you "benefited" from it.

[boppers]

61. As the world communicates and trades more, the internationalists do better than localists.

Bubble economics isn't the answer, but neither is pretending that the world isn't going global.

The hard part is protecting the interests of the "locals", as everything gradually goes global.

[dflprincess]

49. And don't forget the welfare "reform" Clinton brought us

and then they have the nerve to tell us that the number of people on welfare have dropped - while omitting the fact it's because fewer people in need qualify.

Welfare "reform", credit card "reform" and now healthcare "reform" apparently the DLC Democrats in charge now define "reform" as anything that screws the poor and the working and middle classes.

I tremble when I think what will happen when they decide to "reform" Medicare and Social Security.

[here_is_to_hope]

13. We have been receiving food stamps since my

layoff in August of last year, we could not get by without them. I do the whole months food budget using just the ebt card.
we get 355.00 a month for a family of three and I make that last the month, using coupons, freebies and shopping very wisely.
We prepare all of our own food (I have time after all), no boxes, no frozen foods whatsoever.
Without this program, we would have lost most of what we have.
Savings? Still a bit left but we don't dare touch it.
Cars? Hers has 307k, mine has 340k. I fix them as they break.

Christmas was almost all handmade gifts for every one on our list.
The upside to that was our little family spent a few wonderful nights at the craft table and really, even if things do pick up, we will do the same thing next year.

I do admit to a bit of shame, the stigma of being one of the working poor families.
I read that 30 percent of my county receives food stamps.
With unemployment at 18 percent countywide.
I have three weeks to find a job or the savings will be gone by June.
Oh well, 17 applications out and one phone interview.
Ugh.

[Demeter]

20. You Are Survivors, Sir, in the Most Heartless, Unfeeling Country

in the West. I salute you. Have no shame!

The shame belongs on those who do nothing in this crisis but yammer about "MORE Tax cuts for the rich and corporations" and "saving the financial system". They are, however, shameless, and it may take something resembling the French Revolution to bring reality home to them, unfortunately for us all.

[duhneece]

37. And 1 in 100 in prison

What happened to reason and compassion?

[wellstone dem]

21. Whether you can make it to the end of the month depends

on the make up of your household. It is very, very hard to do so if you have teen aged boys in the household. The food stamp budget is based on a family with two adults and two under teen aged children. It is then calculated up or down based on income and number in the household.

It also depends on the ability to shop smart like you do. I've known people who asked the welfare department if someone could shop with them to show them how to make their food stamps last. 30 years ago, there was someone who could help with that. Of course, that position was cut.

[here_is_to_hope]

27. Knowing how to shop is key, food stamps or no.

Some shoppers don't like stores that offer 'club cards' or what have you but they do make coupons easier. I go to a website for Safeway and load any coupons I need right onto my card, I saved 160.00 in November, my record.
There was a story on tv a few days ago about a woman who feeds her family for free using coupons, I will try to find it.

The trouble with most coupons is that they are for name brands, the coupon price may bring it in line with the generic offering but I usually opt for the store brand anyway.
Meal planning is also key for us, the wife is deathly allergic to chicken, eggs, turkey, pork products.
My daughter is allergic to some wheat products and shrimp (not an issue..lol).
I am lucky and can eat anything I can catch.
Speaking of, I do fish for us three times a week, I sometimes catch enough crab for all of too.
Living so close to the ocean does have its food value.

on edit, here is the woman's story...
http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/08/26/coupon-queen-feeds-family-for-4-a-week/

[proudohioan]

36. I also have 2 teenage boys in the household....

I'll tell ya, it's murder on the foodstamps budget! Many times I have gone with not being full or substituting a couple of cups of coffee for a meal. We do a lot of potatoes, pasta and rice dishes. I realize that this is not the most healthy of diets, being so starchy, but it sure stretches a meal and makes it more filling.

I would LOVE to have a job helping people shop to make their foodstamps last. Too bad that's a thing of the (not so distant) past!

Best of luck to you!:-)

[Demeter]

39. There Is No Reason Not to Do This Anyway

and if you can band together food stamp users, they can buy in bulk and pool their pittances into more variety, more savings, and more community.

It may not pay cash, but there are other benefits.

[No Elephants]

53. Dried beans, peas and lentils make filling dishes, too.

Hoppin' John-it ain't just for New Year's anymore.

Just ate the last of my New Year's potful of Hoppin' John yesterday. Tasty, healthy, and very filling. I swear, it keeps expanding after it hits your tummy. If you forego tradition and use brown rice instead of rice, you probably will feel full even longer.

I also make a pea soup that would keep a farm hand going till midnight by double cooking. I make the soup, then I blend or puree it. Then I add more dried peas and cook until they are soft. then, I add some diced potatoes.

Lentil soup with noodles or diced potatoes and spinach is also hearty. I guess I could double cook this too, but I've never tried.

If you do use pasta a lot, tried to use the whole wheat. The filling effect will last longer.

According to the glycemic index, white potatoes may fill you up, but you are likely to feel hungry again sooner than with other foods. I almost never feel as though I've eaten unless I've had a potato, though, so I bake sweet potatoes whenever that seems like a reasonable substitute.

Fortunately for me, I love all these foods, so eating them is a treat for me, not a sacrifice.

[Jefferson23]

29. All the best to you and your family, you have nothing to be ashamed of!

[proudohioan]

34. Best of luck with your interview!

What can I say? I'm there with you and prayers are with you!

T.

[No Elephants]

52. There is no shame in being among the working poor, especially in this screwn economy,

or in participating in a safety net program. That's why they exist.

Blessings.

[notadmblnd]

28. They depend on their family and friends for a place to stay

I know people like this. They stay here and there until the people they are with get tired of them and tell them to leave. Some sell their food stamps in exchange for a place to stay. Some sell them outright. Not too long ago, I had a lady want to pay for my purchase at the grocery store with food stamps. She needed gas to get her kids to school. I gave her 30 dollars. I didn't want her food stamps.

I don't know what people are going to do soon. Commit crimes for a safe secure place to stay?

[Demeter]

40. The Subversion of the Underground Will Take Out the Stops

Just as the Internet is subverting the media control, so the banding together of ordinary individuals into a collective forcxe for coping will lead to a collective force for change.

Believe! It will happen. It's called making change, and it ALWAYS starts from a necessity to build trust and alliances.

[JDPriestly]

30. Thank you President Clinton for "reforming" welfare and agreeing to NAFTA.

What a patriot you are/were. What a wonderful Democrat. DLC all the way. Aren't you proud?:sarcasm:

[That Is Quite Enough]

32. Oh shit.

:/

[bertman]

35. This thread makes me want to break into a rendition of God Bless America. nt

[twitomy]

41. Me too...Just got back from a visit with Indian friends..

they told us there no such thing as welfare, foodstamps, WIC, etc....

[bertman]

46. yeah, but they had the advantage of STARTING OUT with a full-blown caste system

that left an entire class of "untouchable" people to scavenge and live like dogs. We're having to work our way down to that level, but we're getting there quicker than I ever imagined we would. I attribute it to American ingenuity and determination in the face of damn-near insurmountable odds. A lot of folks would have given up after the slaves were freed, but not us Americans. We just charged right ahead eyes firmly fixed on the light at the end of the tunnel.

[timo]

44. come to south TEXAS

I mean here along the border, not sure of exact figures but 50 percent or higher would be a conservative guess, years and years and years of social programs, and not a bit of difference made here!!

[No Elephants]

54. No thanks. The more I read about Texas and Florida, the happier I am that I don't live in either..

[timo]

57. thats ok

lots of folks can bash Texas, not every one is strong enough to live here!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

45. wow! Thanks for posting this. Horrifying

[Omaha Steve]

47. K & R!

[superconnected]

48. "One in eight Americans now receives food stamps, including one in four children."

One quarter of the kids in the country are on food stamps. Now that is the saddest thing I think our country can say about itself.

[Vinca]

56. Well, let's outsource some more jobs then!

The people negotiating trade agreements seem to think everyone can be a brain surgeon and blue collar jobs aren't necessary.

[workinclasszero]

58. Ain't free market captialism wonderful?

But..But.. Boss Limpballs, Glenny Beck and my preacher say...We gotta stop that EVIL socialism at all costs Mercans!:eyes:

That goes for food stamps, social security, medicare...etc. Republicans want to bring to ALL(non-rich)Americans the right to starve to death under a bridge with no healthcare, job, housing or food!

After all thats why we fought in countless wars including two world wars right? So our children could die penniless in a ditch. Amirite???

[saigon68]

60. `

[defendandprotect]

62. Think we should change our name to "used to be America" . . . now third world America . . .!!