Here’s What People Buy With Food Stamps
WASHINGTON Though people like to complain about food stamp recipients using their benefits for unhealthy things like soda and extravagances like crab legs, new data show they buy basically the same food as everyone else.
Households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and households that didnt get benefits both bought a lot of junk food, according to a new study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program.
About 40 cents of every dollar went to basics like bread, milk, meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables for both types of households. And 20 cents of every dollar went to sodas and salty snacks. As a percentage of their spending, soft drinks were the top individual commodity among food stamp households, and they came in second place among non-SNAP households.
Kevin Concannon, the USDAs undersecretary for nutrition, said the data shows food stamp recipients purchasing patterns are more similar to than different from everyone elses.
Its disappointing in both SNAP households and households with incomes well above SNAP that as Americans we dont adequately follow the dietary guidelines, Concannon said in an interview. We consume too much sugar.
Federal nutrition assistance faces an uncertain future. Incoming president Donald Trump never outlined a policy position on SNAP, but House Speaker Paul Ryan has been gunning for the program for years.
Managing The Food Stamp Program
Although the federal government pays most FSP costs and sets most of the regulations, the program is operated by states, generally through local welfare offices.
Payment accuracy is evaluated annually by a joint federal/state review of a sample of cases drawn from each state’s recipient list. This “quality control” sample is sufficiently large to provide reliable information on the people receiving food stamps, the rate at which administrators make errors in benefit determination, and the amounts of payments involved. States can be charged for the benefit cost of error rates in excess of national averages. In practice such penalties are often waived when enforced, states pay by investing the fine in programs to improve performance. The QC system creates incentive for promoting accurate collection of data on income, including SSI receipt. States can and do check on SSI status by using the Social Security Administration’s State Data Exchange program to investigate benefit status for all members of applicant households.
Income Limits For Households That Do Not Automatically Qualify
If you do not qualify automatically based on one of the benefits listed above, to qualify for SNAP, your household income will have to be below an income limit. The exact income limit depends on whether there is a member of the household who has a disability and how many people live in the household.
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Here Are A Few Rough Guidelines That Can Help You Understand How Your Total Income Will Affect Aid:
For any amount above your income protection allowance, roughly every $10,000 in extra income lowers your financial aid qualification by another $3,000.
Once the income is above $100K roughly 1/5th to 1/4th of income will be counted towards your EFC. As your income increases that fraction of your income also increases and can even creep towards 1/3rd or more.
With only one child attending college normally an income above $125K will disqualify you from financial aid qualification at a public university, and about double that, or $250K in income will disqualify you from garnering financial aid.
Report Reductions In Income Right Away
I personally know a family who had their income reduced by more than half and yet refused to inform the food stamps office. This family suffered for months until their re-certification, when they were awarded significantly more food stamps.
Dont make that mistake! When you experience an income change, be sure to report it right away.
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Is There A Work Requirement
Yes, two of them.
First, if youre between the ages of 16 and 59, youre supposed to enroll in relevant state training programs, accept suitable offers of employment and not quit voluntarily or choose to work less than 30 hours per week. But there are exceptions, including for people caring for children under 6 years old or incapacitated adults, and those who have a physical or mental limitation or are participating regularly in a drug or alcohol treatment program.
Theres another set of rules for people between the ages of 18 and 49 who are both able bodied and have no dependents, including working or participating in a work program at least 80 hours per month. You can read more about them on the Department of Agricultures website.
Waivers sometimes apply to work rules as well, which is why its important to apply for SNAP if youre not sure how your own work situation applies, instead of just assuming that youre ineligible.
The Number Of People On Food Stamps Is Falling Here’s Why
Max Kutner U.S.Food stampsSnapNutritionFood
The number of Americans receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , commonly referred to as food stamps, continues to drop, according to the latest numbers released by the United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program.
As of July 7, 42.6 million Americans were receiving SNAP benefits during the current fiscal year, down from 44.2 million in 2016. The 2017 figure is the lowest since 2010, when 40.3 million people were on food stamps. The number peaked in 2013, at 47.6 million.
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An early version of SNAP began as legislation enacted in 1959. Two years later, President John F. Kennedy implemented a pilot version of the program. In 1964, new legislation made the program permanent. Under the program, working-age adults without children can receive benefits for three months in three years. After that time limit, they must work at least 80 hours per month or participate in an education or job training program for that same amount of time. States can temporarily waive the three-month time limit when unemployment rates rise, and many did so during the economic recession that started in the late 2000s.
As the economy has improved, states have had to drop those waivers, especially since 2016. On April 1, 2016, after the first three-month period passed, an estimated 500,000 to 1 million people in 22 states lost their benefits.
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What Are Deductions And How Do They Affect Snap Eligibility
There are seven allowable deductions that you can consider when determining your net pay. To figure out your net income, you have to figure out which allowable deductions apply to your situations and deduct them from your gross income. The difference is your net income.
Each state outlines employment requirements as part of SNAP eligibility. These requirements include:
- Registering for work – some states will require you to provide proof that you are actively applying for work on a weekly basis.
- Not voluntarily quitting your job If you are unemployed, you need to prove that it was not your choice.
- Not purposely reducing your hours If your hours are cut making you income eligible, you will need to prove that the cut in hours was beyond your control.
- Taking a job if offered
- Participating in state-offered employment and training programs.
SNAP benefits will be discontinued if any of these employment requirements are not followed. There are people exempt from the employment requirements. This includes children, seniors, pregnant women, and individuals that are exempt from working for health reasons.
Employment requirements apply to applicants determined to be Able-Bodied Adults without Dependents . Under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, ABAWDs are limited to 3 months of SNAP benefits over a 36-month period unless they are doing at least one of the following:
What If I Dont Think I Was Overpaid
If you got a notice from DHHS and dont think you have an overpayment or you question the amount, call the number on the notice. You can speak to someone at DHHS to get more information.
You have a right to appeal an overpayment. If you do not think you were overpaid or if you disagree with the amount, you should file an appeal.
You should also file an appeal if you do not agree with the type of overpayment. If the notice is for an intentional error and you think it was their fault , you should appeal.
The type of overpayment makes a difference in your rights. You only have 90 days to appeal.
To appeal, call or visit your local DHHS office. Or call the DHHS Customer Service Center at 1-855-797-4357. Tell them you want to appeal the overpayment.
When you appeal, DHHS will send you more information about your overpayment. You will also get a notice scheduling a Fair Hearing. At the Fair Hearing, you have the right to give your side of the story to the hearing officer. This is a person who has not been involved with your case before. The hearing officer has a duty to be fair and to make sure that the rules are followed
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How Can I Know If I Might Be Eligible For Snap
To find out if you may be eligible for SNAP Benefits, visit myBenefits.ny.gov and click on Am I Eligible? to use the SNAP pre-screening eligibility tool. Please note: The pre-screening tool is not an application for SNAP. The tool will look at the information you provided to see if you might be able to get help with buying food and other services. You’ll have to apply for the programs listed to get a final decision about benefits, and information will be provided to let you know how to do that. Keep in mind that you always have the right to apply for these benefits.
In New York State, the SNAP Program now allows you to have more money in a checking or savings account, or even a retirement account, without affecting your eligibility for SNAP benefits. As of January 1, 2008, most households applying for SNAP benefits no longer have to pass a savings/resource test in order to get SNAP benefits. This means having money in a savings, checking or retirement account, or having other resources, will not keep you from being eligible for SNAP benefits, as long as you meet the income guidelines.
Child Support Payments: How Much Is Too Much
In the State of California, a noncustodial dad making $3,000 a month may have to pay nearly half of what he makes in court-ordered support for his three children. In other states, the scenario is similar.
The payment amount is based on each parents income and the amount of time he or she spends with the children. Other factors taken into consideration are the needs of each child including health insurance, special needs, daycare and education. The income and needs of the custodial parent are factored into the calculations in addition to the paying parents ability to pay and the childrens standard of living before the parents separated and divorced.
When the amount of child support a dad must pay, however, amounts to a monthly windfall for the custodial parent, it discourages shared parenting. The more the noncustodial dad sees the children, the less money the Court generally requires him to pay. This is why, in todays scenario, aiming for equally shared parenting time is better for the children.
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The Food Stamp Program And Income
Next, we turn to the contribution of FSP benefits to household income. For this purpose we continue separate analysis by age and further differentiate between recipients living alone or with spouses only and SSI recipients living with others. Table 3 provides a sense of the reliability of estimates for various subgroups by reporting sample sizes and the estimated number of SSI recipients for various subgroups in 2004. Some of the subgroups are so small that the results are meaningless. However for subgroup samples that are large, results can be viewed with considerable confidence.
Table 3. SSI recipients in food stamp recipient households, by living arrangements and benefits, fiscal year 2004| SSI recipient characteristic |
|---|
| NOTES: SSI = Supplemental Security Income OASDI = Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. |
| a. Too few observations for meaningful calculations. |
| SSI recipient |
|---|
| NOTE: SSI = Supplemental Security Income. |
| a. Too few observations for meaningful calculations. |
| SSI recipient characteristic |
|---|
| NOTES: SSI = Supplemental Security Income OASDI = Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. |
Are You Spending Too Much On Food
According to the report, individuals feel as though they are overspending on food, and that its a problem. They know they need to spend money on food, but arent happy about it because its taking away from other spending. Indeed, many of those studied indicated that they wouldnt save that money theyd just spend it on something else.
This prompted me to think about my own food spending and to figure out if I think Im spending too much on it. Im pretty satisfied with my own food spending since we make a lot of food at home, and we buy a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Our food budget hasnt even increased very much since we moved from Utah to Pennsylvania. Its about the same because we dont have the Schwan delivery coming every other week. I used to feel bad about not ordering anything, so I regularly bought expensive items even when I didnt need to.
Another realization I had is that our focus on healthy eating has also helped. We spend less money eating out. Even though I like eating out, weve turned into a true treat, rather than the regular occurrence that it was when we lived in Utah.
Now, we carefully think about when we eat out, and where we want to go, so we have a more enjoyable experience.
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The Food Stamp Program
The FSP helps people buy food by providing grocery credit. The name is an anachronism today all recipient households receive the FSP benefit through the use of electronic benefit transfer cards. These are ATM-like debit cards that recipients use to purchase food from authorized grocery stores and supermarkets. The benefit is adjusted annually for changes in food costs. The FSP eligibility unit is the household, defined as an individual or group of people who live, buy food, and prepare meals together. This contrasts with SSI, which is determined on an individual, and not household, basis.
