“Keep looking for help. There are lots of resources out there if you search for them.”
More times than I can count, my law school clinic students and I have stood in front of judges who repeat this bromide to our clients while those same judges order the eviction of a family, deny health coverage for a person living with disabilities, or block someone who has been laid off from getting unemployment benefits.
Right-wing think tanks insist our welfare system is generous, and even well-meaning social work programs claim our programs ensure people meet their basic needs. That is not true.
The United States is the richest nation in the world. It is also one that, compared to similar nations, has a significantly higher poverty rate, more people going without health care and medicines, more children living in hunger, and more people living without shelter.
This widespread suffering can be directly linked to our tattered safety net. The United States spends 18.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on housing, health care, and other economic needs, an amount markedly lower than other democratic, market-based countries. Germany, for example, spends over 25 percent of its GDP on government-provided assistance; Japan spends 22.6 percent; and France nearly 31 percent.
The US spends 18.5 percent of its GDP on housing, health care, and other economic needs, an amount markedly lower than other democratic, market-based countries.
Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is making things even more difficult for many struggling people in the United States. Here are the ways our existing programs fall well short of meeting the needs of those who qualify.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as Food Stamps, is far and away the largest US food program, with nearly forty-two million people receiving benefits. But those SNAP benefits fall well short of what is needed to keep families fed. Analysis by the Urban Institute shows that even the…
Auteur: Fran Quigley
