As US economy rebounds, 1 million people could lose food stamps benefit
The Labor Department announced Friday that a high number of Americans have flooded back into the job market at faster rates since before the Great Recession, driven by the a hiring rate that has been increasing in the recent years.
On the same day, several states reinstated time limits and work requirements for people that receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The mandate was put in place in 1996, and was suspended in 2009 amid a widespread increase in unemployment following the 2008 economic recession. The rule requires adults who don鈥檛 have children or disabilities to have a job or be enrolled in a job training in order to qualify as a recipient of SNAP food stamps for more than three months.
Generally states have to request a waiver from the federal government, but they have to meet certain qualifications. For a jurisdiction to qualify, it has to have a high unemployment rate, above 10 percent and 20 percent higher than the national rate. Most states qualified for the waiver after the recession as unemployment rates soared across the country.
The time limits and work requirements normally exempt people above 49 years, and people below 18 as well as pregnant women and people who are classified as 鈥渦nfit for employment,鈥� because of a disability. That means that the the most at risk of losing food stamp benefits today are people between 18 to 49 years.
A 2014 analysis by The Associated Press and University of Kentucky economists found that a majority of the food stamp recipients were working-age people, or 18 to 49 year olds. As 海角大神 reported, the number surged from 44 percent in 1998, to 50.2 percent in 2014. Currently, some 46 million people are receiving food aid under the program. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal organization based in Washington, D.C., estimates that between 500,000 and 1 million people will lose SNAP benefits over the course of 2016.
Citing the decrease in unemployment rates, 22 states are re-imposing the limits and work requirement that will see up to million people losing food stamps. Up to 40 states will now have the rule in place.
The Labor Department estimated that The number of Americans looking for jobs, also known as the 鈥減articipation rate鈥� increased from 62.4 percent to 63. Yet not everybody is onboard with the reinstatement of the SNAP rules.
Opponents of the rules are concerned that the decrease in unemployment isn鈥檛 reflected in across all the states. Though the economy has improved in several states that are reinstating the rule, including New York and Maryland, other states including, Mississippi, South Carolina, and West Virginia haven鈥檛 had a similar economic rebound, as the Washington Post reported.聽.
鈥淎lthough the overall jobless rate has been slowly falling,鈥� Dorothy Rosenbaum, a food policy expert at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, ,聽鈥渙ther labor market data indicate that many people who want to work still cannot find jobs. Cutting off food assistance does not enable them to find employment or secure more hours of work.鈥�
Currently, the , a decrease from the number recorded in 2011, according to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet it鈥檚 still 2.5 times longer than the work requirement allows, the Washington Post reported.
Proponents championing the rule, mostly Republican lawmakers, say the improving economy should drive 鈥渁ble bodied鈥� people to seek jobs.
"These are, again, adults 鈥� no dependents, physically and mentally capable of working,鈥� Rob Nichols, a spokesman for Ohio Gov. John Kasich鈥檚 presidential campaign, told the Washington Post. 鈥淛ust as much as we believe in the social safety net, we also believe it鈥檚 a sin not to help oneself.鈥�
The number of people under the SNAP program has decreased by 2.6 million since its peak in 2012. Twenty-one states reported to not have used any of the federal funds that were available for the program, the New York Times reported.
