Food stamp rise not a tragedy; it’s a victory
photo by clementine gallot on flickr
Food stamps now feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.
In Cook County, 28 percent of kids and 34 percent of African-Americans are using them. Overall, food stamp usage is up 20 percent here compared with 2007.
There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over these facts.
I’m not wailing. I’m celebrating.
The reason food stamp use is on the rise is because of the recession. No doubt about that. Home prices tanked. Banks failed. Unemployment soared. Wages dropped. Homelessness rose.
And it’s not just past tense – it’s still going.
Is this a tragedy? Yes. It’s a tragedy that millions of families are struggling.
But food stamp use isn’t just a symptom of this deadly disease. It’s a solution.
It’s in vogue to tout the inefficiency of government programs on both the right and the left. From medicare to the IRS to the halls of Congress, nobody does it worse than government, right?
Wrong. Well, at least where food stamps are concerned.
The rise in food stamps means that a lot of people need help. But it also means a lot of people are getting help – and getting efficient, effective help.
Food stamps can sometimes be the safety net’s safety net, as the New York Times states, but they are also the first resort of a struggling family. Before welfare, before medicaid, people turn to food stamps, and it often gives them the boost to keep them off those other benefit programs.
The NYT
The beauty of food stamps is in their simplicity: you can only buy food. Everyone needs food. No matter how much you loathe parents for being lazy, good-for-nothing, welfare-sucking pigs, no one wants children to starve. (I say this gingerly – perhaps there is someone out there that wants children to starve, and they are likely to write a comment on this very blog). You can’t buy alcohol with food stamps. You can’t buy drugs. You can’t even buy toilet paper. You can only buy food.
And unlike other government benefit programs, there is a very very small percentage of error rate and almost no fraud associated with food stamps. Especially with the rise of debit cards (called “Link” cards in Illinois), it’s hard for people to sell their food stamps and impossible to use it for something other than food. The food stamps program has also been lauded for it’s efficiency – only 11 percent of it’s budget is spent on administration.
They’re also a boost to the economy. Instead of people starving, they’re buying stuff. Good for a hungry family and good for your local grocery store.
It’s terrible that so many families can’t make ends meet, but it’s a reality we already know. We need to figure out how this happened and how to stop it from happening again, but for families struggling to put food on the table, there has to be a practical solution. And food stamps fills that void, quite well.
In this time where all we get is bad news or worse news every day, we should be happy that there’s down-to-earth solution that’s actually doing something to fix this mess, not just moan over it.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Megan Cottrell, Tom Valenti. Tom Valenti said: RT @mmcottrell: Is the rise in food stamp use really such a bad thing? http://bit.ly/8Nf6lL [...]
Ms. Cottrell,
You are quite correct that it is a good thing that people are making us the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). One of the problems over the last several years has been the social sigma attached to AFDC. In Los Angeles County AFDC has been under utilized and the County Department of Public Social Services has been working to get more eligible people to make us of it. One problem is that many of the people in need of AFDC are immigrants who fear that using AFDC will compromise their eligibility to obtain citizenship, if not result in deportation. This is not the case, AFDC does not in any way impact anyone’s immigrations status but it remains a problem.
Hey Megan,
I am curious as to how you concluded that it is difficult to resell Link Cards? Working in a public housing development I witnessed Link Cards being sold for half of their worth on a monthly basis.
Great article, as always.
Cheers.
I guess I should have said it’s harder, but not impossible. It’s harder to steal them, at least.
I’m surprised that Link cards don’t require ID at the grocery store. Do you think that would cut down on the reselling?
It’s surprising to me that people sell them for half their worth. What kinds of things do they get in return in your experience? I wouldn’t sell $200 worth of food for anything less than $200, but I guess people are desperate sometimes.
Good comment. Thanks for reading!
In response to another comment. See in context »People sell some of their link benefits for $.75 to $.50 on the dollar to buy necessary things that they can’t afford: toiletries, cleaning supplies, diapers, toilet paper, etc. I have worked in social services for years with homeless individuals and families and many times, there is no other way to pay for the most basic things which are necessary to survive.
Thanks for a thoughtful article!
In response to another comment. See in context »I agree, I think the food stamp program is pretty good. The amounts it provides are about 75% of what you actually need to eat, but at least its something you can get without too much hassle. (You don’t need a lawyer like you do with SSDI).
You don’t need a lawyer, but you do need to interact with Illinois DHS, which is no picnic. But it’s easier than SSDI for sure.
In Illinois, medicaid benefits are mailed to the recipients each month. A friend of mine who’s on medicaid told me that budget cutbacks mean they don’t have the cash to mail them. So she hasn’t gotten her medicaid card for December yet. She was told they are “working on the problem.” Oh, DHS. So efficient.
In response to another comment. See in context »Great article, Megan! My husband and I have a link card and it’s been really helpful in allowing us one area of expenses that we’re not scrambling to find a way to pay for. We’re both working, but are underemployed right now due to the recession. We’ve had a few administrative hiccups, but for the most part, our Link card is really easy to use and maintain.
If I remember correctly, food stamps are also the most efficient way of cycling government money back into the economy.
Yes, that’s correct. I forgot to put this in the post, but one of the links says that for every dollar of foods stamps in a recession, $1.82 is generated in economic activity. A good return rate!
In response to another comment. See in context »Interesting post. Thanks for providing the Cook County numbers.
I appreciate the way your approach to stories teases out the insights that go against conventional wisdom. For want of a better term, I would call it (your approach) Solution Based.
Yes, link cards help feed children…but what are they being fed?
I’ve worked in a grocery store throughout my high school career and I have seen a lot of link cards being used. Unfortunately, they are almost always being used for extremely unhealthy food. 90% of the time, I know when a customer is going to pull out a link card based on what they’re buying. It’s almost always soda, chips, expensive steaks, candy, etc. It makes me very upset. I feel in order for link to be successful, the food items must be approved somehow. For example, the WIC (Women, infants & Children) checks are very successful. They list what the person may buy, such as milk, eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables, etc.
I’m absolutely fine with my tax money being used to help feed a family in need, but not if that family is eating doughnuts and drinking mountain dew.
Yes, link cards are helping feed children…but what are they being fed?
I have worked in a grocery store throughout my high school career. Working there, I see link cards being used every day. Unfortunately, they are mostly used to buy extremely unhealthy foods. 90% of the time, I can tell if someone to going to pay with a link card, based on what they buy. It is almost always soda, chips, expensive steaks, candy, etc. This makes me very upset, and I feel the link system is flawed.
The link cards need to limit what kind of food you can purchase with them. Much like the WIC (women, infants and children) checks. They list the items that can be bought…such as, milk, eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables, etc. They are always efficient and effective, unlike the link cards.
I have absolutely no problem with our government using my tax money to help feed a family in need. But not if that family is buying doughnuts and mountain dew.