Over the course of 2016, more than 500,000 and as many as 1
million of the nation’s poorest people will be cut off SNAP (formerly known as
the Food Stamp Program),1 leaving
them to struggle in an economy where wages are stagnant and full time work is
difficult to find. In this round of cuts, unemployed adults between the ages of
18-49 who are able bodied and have no children have been targeted to lose their
benefits. This is particularly troubling because SNAP benefits are often the
only form of assistance they can access and this overlooked population tends to
be extremely poor, with their gross income averaging 17 percent of the poverty
line- about $2,000 per year.1
This three-month time limit was included in the 1996 welfare
law, which limits childless, able bodied adults to three months of SNAP
benefits when they are not employed or in a work or training program for at
least 20 hours a week. This means that a person could be diligently looking for
a job, have a part time job and be in search of full time work, or be called
upon to care for a family member and would still lose the only benefit
available to them.
This year, the time limit will be in effect in more than 40
states. In 23 states, it will be the first time that the time limit has been in
effect since before the recession.1 In most of these states, the
time limit went into effect in January, meaning that many people will have
their SNAP benefits taken away at the end of this month.
The return of the time limit imposed on SNAP benefits will
have a large-scale impact on at least 500,000 unemployed Americans who rely on
these benefits to meet their nutritional needs. Congress is unlikely to act on
extending the time limit or include diligently searching for jobs as a way to
retain SNAP benefits. With Congress unlikely to take any action, states must
begin to plan on the how to assist those who need to meet their basic
nutritional needs.
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As people of faith, we must remember the parable of the
sheep and goats: whatever we do to “the least of these” brothers and sisters of
mine, we also do to Jesus himself (Matthew 25:40). We must remember “that God
our creator has made the world for everyone, and desires that all shall have
daily bread” (UPCUSA, Minutes, 1979,
p.189). Alleviating hunger and eliminating its causes is at the very heart of
the life of the church. It is the responsibility of the Church to speak out and
share all that we have, and therefore we must help our brothers and sisters who
are about to lose their only way to meet their basic nutritional needs.
1 1. “More Than 500,000 Adults Will Lose SNAP
Benefits in 2016 as Waivers Expire” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
January 21, 2016.
Mara Sawdy hails from West Newton, Pennsylvania and is a 2015 graduate of Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. In college, she studied environmental science and peace studies. She is currently serving as a Young Adult Volunteer the PC(USA) Office of Public Witness and Miriam's Kitchen in Washington, DC.
