Welfare NYC

It wasn’t difficult for Eric to obtain government aid. He spent less than half a day going to a few government offices in Manhattan until he had an EBT card in his hands. The card subsidizes the twenty-three-year-old’s groceries while a stipend from New York State Unemployment Insurance Benefits pays for the rest of his living costs.

Before he got the idea from friends who were also on Food Stamps, Eric lived off of dollar slices of pizza and other inexpensive “college kid stuff” as he put it, until he got the idea to apply for aid. It may sound surprising that someone so young is in need of government aid, but Eric says he knows at least ten other young people on some form of government aid.

New York City’s Center for Economic Opportunity, set up by Bloomberg, somewhat ironically abbreviated CEO, released a report in March that bolsters claims that welfare programs have helped to keep New Yorkers above the poverty line during the recession. Food stamps are one of the most important programs by many accounts.

“[The Food Stamps program] is one of the most important income support programs in the United States,” says Daniel Scheer, a City Research Scientist at CEO.

CEO’s report, entitled “Policy Affects Poverty: The CEO Poverty Measure, 2005-2009” chronicles how successful welfare policy has been in New York City in keeping citizens out of poverty, which is defined as being 100% below the poverty line.

The report supports the assertion that poverty rates have not increased dramatically in New York in the face of the recession. This lack of increase may be attributed to the state’s welfare programs, particularly Food Stamps.

“Basically, from my understanding of the recent report on food stamps and tax aid, we have made strides in the correct direction,” said sociological expert Dr. Dave Haines, graduate of Yale currently working with Yale, Harvard, and Hunter College.

According to the CEO report, New York City’s poverty rate actually declined during the recession. In 2007, the overall poverty rate was at 20.7% and fell to 19.6% in 2008 before climbing back up to 19.9% in 2009.

Another expert, Dr. Suzzane Feinstein, Ph.D, working in midtown Manhattan in Behavioral Health Services, draws attention to the fact that simply subsidizing the poor does not fix the problem of poverty or even cover the services provided by the government.

“Tax aid and food stamps may be helping but they are still needing services such as therapy. Transitioning into work and leaning off the government can be very taxing.” said Feinstein.  

CEO chooses to establish a different poverty line than the national average because they adjust their standards to accommodate for the high costs of living in New York City. Therefore, the poverty threshold for a two-parent, two-child home in 2009 was an income of $29,477 instead of $21,756 per year, the national definition. However, this family unit is not of course representative of all welfare recipients.

“The Food Stamp program is largely designed for family with children and the elderly, and has restrictions on what aid, how much, and how long an able-bodied person can receive it,” said Daniel Scheer.

Although the system may not be designed for the so-called “working poor,” a huge proportion of people receiving government aid are of working age. A 2007 study by the NYC Food Bank Hunger Safety Net found that 57% of Emergency Food Programs’ recipients are between 18 to 64, known as working adults. 24% of recipients have a college level education.

“In New York State, college students can apply for food stamps if they come from single parent families or are taking care of a person with disabilities. The family’s income also has to be equal or less than 130% of the federal poverty line,” Scheer explained.

Level of education clearly bears some correlation to the likelihood of a person falling below the poverty line, but that does not mean that everyone with a college degree is above the poverty line. In fact, 7.5 of NYC residents with a Bachelor’s degree are living below the poverty line.

“The 7.5 percent may appear high, but compared to the others it is not that bad. Poverty is still more of a factor of people with lower levels of education,” said Scheer.

As compared to those who have finished their degrees, those who have not finished a college degree but have spent some time in college are about twice as likely to be below the poverty line at 14.9%.

The characterization of the 18-64 demographic as belonging to a subset of “working adults” lends to the notion that those members of society whose ages suggests that they will be at working age should be able to keep themselves out of poverty.

“In 2009, the poverty rate for working-age adults was 17.8 percent, compared to a 23.8 percent rate for children and 23.6 percent for the elderly,” CEO’s report states. Although there is a clear statistical gap between these age demographics, working age adults are only about 6% different from children and seniors. Working age adults still make up a significant amount of the people living in poverty and also need the help that government aid can provide.

Students and young people struggle to get by in New York just as everyone else does. NYU and The New School both recently made major tuition hikes after sending out acceptances.

“About 3% of our students are using food stamps,” claims Claire Davis, a psychologist at the NYU Health Center.

NYU does provide therapeutic resources designed specifically for students on welfare.

“We have support groups and individual therapy sessions for those using food stamps,” Davis explained.

According to the CEO study, in 2009, New Yorkers with less than a high school degree had a 30.4 percent poverty rate, while those with high school degrees were at 21.7 percent.

As the CEO study says, “The likelihood that someone will be poor falls dramatically as his or her level of education rises.”

However, it seems that it is important to also consider the socioeconomic circumstances that people who have acquired different levels of education are in. Those pursuing a college education are already disposed to be of a certain income.

However, poverty befalls people of all ages and backgrounds. Government aid in New York City is growing and appears to be making strides in helping to expand support for many people below the poverty line.

An important facet of this aid comes from EBT cards and Food Stamps, which are both forms of federal aid that help recipients pay for food. As Scheer explains, “One is a book of stamps used as transactions, but now many people use the EBT, which is an electronic account that is more efficient.”

Eric gets about $200.00 a month, the typical amount for welfare recipients, to pay for food via his EBT card. This amount is determined by the USDA by figuring the most economic budget for nutritious eating within the current price of food.

“[Welfare] helps me pay for the majority of my essential groceries and often times meals from the Whole Foods salad bar and deli's that accept EBT,” he said.