On a Working Poor Budget

By: Julia Taveras

“I have certain days where I feel like everything will be alright and work itself out. But it’s been 3 years since I’ve started being on welfare/food stamps, and not much has changed. I still can’t get a decent job, I want to go back and finish college, but I have no money, and financial aid only does so much” says Ari Ashley, a young Dominican woman with big dreams but small pockets.

Ari receives 180 dollars a month through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or “Food Stamps”) and although she acknowledges the benefit of this “pretty stable income,” she finds many faults and injustices with the program. She feels that a lot of employees who work with the Food Stamp program are not qualified or even cordial. “As it is obviously a very emotionally charged and sad situation, it would help to work with someone who understands what I’m going through and someone who actually wants to help people in need.” Ari also points out the many loopholes that exist for those applying, even for the small amount of money she receives. And lastly, she says the program can improve by “making more varied, and healthier options for food. I’m not saying I need to be greedy and eat lobster, filet mignon, and caviar every night – but it’d be nice to not have to eat Spam, old or rotting fruits, and expired canned goods…”

All of this exists, not to mention the negative social stigma that surrounds those who participate in these programs. “No one should feel shame or guilt about just trying to eat, live, and survive. No one,” says Chantall Ellison, Program Coordinator at America Works, a private workforce that provides unemployment services.

But according to a recent report titled “Policy Affects Poverty” by New York’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), anti-poverty programs have kept many residents from falling under the official poverty line in the past five years. However, even with government-funded programs, tax credits and housing benefits, even the “working poor” have trouble making ends meet.

Christine D’Onofrio, the Senior Research Analyst from CEO’s Poverty Research Unit who worked on this report, defines the “working poor” as those who are for a living but statistically are classified as ‘poor.’

Since its establishment in 2006, the Center for Economic Opportunity has focused on designing “evidence-based policies” to reduce the poverty rates in New York. The Center’s last report (released in March 2010) focused on defining what part of the population fell under the poverty measure and what part didn’t; to put it simply, it defined “who was ‘poor’ and who wasn’t.”

They have also adapted (from the National Academy of Science) an adjusted version the federal government’s ‘official poverty measure’, that which statistically defines who is ‘poor’ and who isn’t. Unlike the official poverty measure, the CEO’s poverty measure takes into account higher housing rates in urban settings (for New York City residents, for example), money spent on food, utilities, clothing, and other things people need, added to what people have to spend money on (transportation, childcare, etc…). The CEO then compares this number with the person’s income, including public housing benefits and food subsidies as resources.

“We’re making a difference between what people need and what they have to spend money on” says D’Onofrio.

She argues that this year’s report will help advocate for government-funded anti-poverty programs. According to Ms. D’Onforio, the focus of this year’s report was looking at why some people “were not in poverty.” Her team analyzed the effects of the efforts designed to tackle the impact of the recession such as extended tax credits, and increases in Food Stamp Program participation. “We realized that those very specific programs managed to keep people out of poverty [during the recession]” she said.

When asked what was her conclusion regarding the effect of anti-poverty efforts on the “working poor”, Ms. D’Onforio answered that “when people are unemployed we know that [in order] to keep them above the poverty line what really helps is things like food stamps and housing support, things like that... This reasoning seems obvious, but given the amount of debate about whether or not these programs work, we are happy to prove that they do.”

Evidence says that these anti- poverty incentives have a positive effect for the population, but, as Ari’s story highlights, actually living around a Food Stamp budget can be muddy struggle. Is finding yourself a part of the “working poor” receiving government benefits a dead end? Are there any other options besides government aid in the City?

As Ms. D’Onforio noted, “Not to discount the benefit of these programs [non-profit food programs], but the truth is that they probably do not come near affecting the official poverty measure.”

Holy Apostles’ Church Soup Kitchen (HASK) on 27^th and 9^th ave. is one effort that has morphed into one of the largest on-site feeding programs in the country and a model for fledgling programs the nation over, serving roughly 1,000 to 1,150 meals on weekdays. The soup kitchen and the struggle against poverty has been the church’s project for over 20 years. However, ultimately, Steve Fanko, volunteer coordinator at HASK, would agree with D’Onforio. “What we do isn’t meant to be a permanent fix, just a support as people get out of the cycle. They’re supposed to keep moving.”

It seems that from government aid, churches and food banks, there are many efforts taking place to fight poverty in New York. Why is it then, that the statistics don’t hold true to the stories?