Monday, February 9, 2009

Welfare on the Street and in the street


Amount of taxpayer bailout money used to pay Wall Street bonuses in 2008: $18.4 billion
Federal allocation for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (welfare) in 2008: $16. billion
Number of states that cut their welfare rolls last year: 18

How those numbers are playing out, at street level:
From the Star-Ledger in Essex County, N.J. "All over New Jersey, the welfare lines are getting longer and longer. Victims of the recession are lining up to apply for food stamps and seek help paying for utilities, rent and subsidized health care in numbers that veteran social service workers have never seen before. While the lines may run the longest in urban Essex County, rural Salem County and suburban Middlesex see the same thing: lines getting longer, lines made up more and more of people that have never stood there before. The state Department of Human Services, which oversees the distribution of welfare, Medicaid and food stamps benefits, saw a dramatic spike in the demand for these programs in the fall. Food-stamp applications doubled from 2,234 people in October 2007 to 4,547 people in October 2008, according to the most recent state data available.
Inundated Essex County welfare director Bruce Nigro said county agencies have yet to feel the full impact of the lost jobs. 'They've just extended unemployment for another 13 weeks, but when unemployment runs out, I expect to get hit, probably late spring or early summer,' he said."

From the South Bend Tribune in Indiana: "A common story falls from the lips of many seeking help at the Sister Maura Brannick Center. Lost jobs, late bills and little mouths to feed have forced them to put aside their own medical treatment. But now, running out of medication or worse — such as enduring a painful infection — has finally caused them to turn to the center. Most are suffering from chronic illnesses, says Director Carla Bice, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems or serious dental ailments. 'A lot of people have lost their insurance,' she says. 'The problem is a lot of them are getting sicker. We see so many train wrecks.' ...The number of food stamps recipients has increased by thousands in the last year, with a total of 31,563 St. Joseph County residents receiving stamps in 2008, compared with 28,089 in 2007, according to the Indiana Family and Social Security Administration.The numbers do not include residents who apply for food stamps but are denied qualification, according to FSSA spokeswoman Lauren Auld. She says that number is not recorded."

Nationally, the number of people receiving cash assistance in 2008 remained at or near the lowest in more than 40 years, according to a recent survey by The New York Times. "Of the 12 states where joblessness grew most rapidly, eight reduced or kept constant the number of people receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the main cash welfare program for families with children. Nationally, for the 12 months ending October 2008, the rolls inched up a fraction of 1 percent."

3 comments:

SammyIB said...

nmaterializes and people actually are out of work the line at food pantries will get longer as a supplement to unemployment checks.
But the food pantries only offer marginal support not subsistence,, in Joel Berg's new book, regarding Hunger in America, he points out that a % increase in government programs will reach many more families than a similar percentage increase in afodd pantry budgets. The food stamp program has been underutilized because of underapplication,it is good to see this is turning around. Since the late 70s welfare has been a bad word, who needs a safety net?, when the trend is your friend. Well trickle down is over and did not work, the trend is against those in trouble and a safety net for the those in need will support the continuation for the standard of living of all. It is not only the right thing to do, now it is the necessary thing to do.

Theresa said...

"Continuation of the standard of living of all"? I suspect I speak for many when I say those standards are in flux right now, ready or not.

SammyIB said...

yes, they are in flux, but that is the virtue of a safety net to maintain an adequate standard, otherwise the expectation of self reliance will allow a me-first state of mind to be blind to those who hit bottom when no safety net exists