Something’s gotta change, that’s for dang sure! Have you read anything about other metrics to calculate someone’s income/poverty line? I would love to hear how it can be modernized 🤔
I'm going to look into that a bit more and post my findings on Notes—seems like an important follow-up to this topic, because it certainly should be modernized—thanks!
Yes. I’m living on Social Security now. I used to do a little freelance but that job fell through last autumn when I moved into “affordable housing.” I’m still waiting to be able to afford anything. Once I moved from a market rate apartment into this one my food stamps were cut from $249 a month to $23, so the remainder of my food costs now must come from my SS allotment. I actually keep track of what I spend in food and it comes to an amount similar to what I used to get from the government. My “problem” here is that my Social Security amount is too high for me to qualify for the actual amount of assistance I need. I worked in the book publishing business for most of my adult life and pay simply was not that good for the kind of work I did. I had a really good job in the early 1990s but it only lasted three years. It’s probably the reason my SS is sort of high. When I moved I had to put the costs of it on my only charge card, so it’s near its max. Then there are doctor bills, one for me and one for my cat, both over $300. It’s a struggle to pay them. The single factor than ruined my life, however was that my narcissistic husband walked out in me in 1995, as if we were roommates and had not bought a house together. Not surprisingly, I filed for bankruptcy in 2003. At least I was finally able to get enough money from selling the house that I could move away still wearing the shirt on my back, but when all the debts were paid off I was left with very little. Everything has been pretty much downhill since then. I know exactly what you are writing about. It seems odd to me that I have two degrees and am still as poor as my mother’s parents, who were uneducated farmers in Ohio, living in a house with no indoor plumbing. Oh well…
Oh wow, what a story, Saralyn! The financial assistance programs not only need to change to keep up with today's economy, the mindset of elected officials and our larger culture must change from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality. just looked up the relationship of social security benefits to food stamps, and it still isn't clear to me why food stamps are reduced by social security income when social security is not taxable as "earned income" by the IRS unless you receive over a certain amount. That amount is set incredibly low, though: https://www.ssa.gov/manage-benefits/request-withhold-taxes#:~:text=You%20will%20pay%20federal%20income,taxes%20withheld%20from%20your%20payment.
These programs are simply not in line with people’s real expenses. The food stamp allotment should have taken into account the inflation that set in after the pandemic. It did not. The numbers they use are old. I’d have to check on it but I can’t remember ever hearing that the figures they use to tabulate anyone’s food stamps have been updated. So the amounts awarded are ridiculous. I think it’s insulting to give anyone $23 a month. I could probably buy a case of dog food with that! But I could not buy my cat’s hydrolyzed cat food with it. His food costs $81 for a 14-lb. bag, which lasts a little over a month. He has food allergies, so he also gets orednisolone in his ears every other day. I spent a long time trying to figure out what was making him ill. Sigh!
I have a cat, too...and she is old enough to vote! And she also takes several medications and special food. I will look into how food stamp allotments are calculated for a follow-up post. And I will also look into what I think is currently a major snag, which I mentioned in my comment to you above: why does the government require a reduction in monthly food stamp allotments based on SS checks, regardless of how high the checks are...?
ALICE is new to me, too. And the organization, United for ALICE seems to be doing a super job with both their research and calling this hidden (and alarmingly large) group of people to the attention of elected officials and regular folks in individual counties and communities—they're taking it local/grassroots.
Something’s gotta change, that’s for dang sure! Have you read anything about other metrics to calculate someone’s income/poverty line? I would love to hear how it can be modernized 🤔
That's a good question, Nikita. Do you mean metrics used by other countries to calculate poverty levels? Otherwise, here's a link to the Census Bureau discussing how it calculates poverty levels: https://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty/about/history-of-the-poverty-measure.html
I'm going to look into that a bit more and post my findings on Notes—seems like an important follow-up to this topic, because it certainly should be modernized—thanks!
Yes. I’m living on Social Security now. I used to do a little freelance but that job fell through last autumn when I moved into “affordable housing.” I’m still waiting to be able to afford anything. Once I moved from a market rate apartment into this one my food stamps were cut from $249 a month to $23, so the remainder of my food costs now must come from my SS allotment. I actually keep track of what I spend in food and it comes to an amount similar to what I used to get from the government. My “problem” here is that my Social Security amount is too high for me to qualify for the actual amount of assistance I need. I worked in the book publishing business for most of my adult life and pay simply was not that good for the kind of work I did. I had a really good job in the early 1990s but it only lasted three years. It’s probably the reason my SS is sort of high. When I moved I had to put the costs of it on my only charge card, so it’s near its max. Then there are doctor bills, one for me and one for my cat, both over $300. It’s a struggle to pay them. The single factor than ruined my life, however was that my narcissistic husband walked out in me in 1995, as if we were roommates and had not bought a house together. Not surprisingly, I filed for bankruptcy in 2003. At least I was finally able to get enough money from selling the house that I could move away still wearing the shirt on my back, but when all the debts were paid off I was left with very little. Everything has been pretty much downhill since then. I know exactly what you are writing about. It seems odd to me that I have two degrees and am still as poor as my mother’s parents, who were uneducated farmers in Ohio, living in a house with no indoor plumbing. Oh well…
Oh wow, what a story, Saralyn! The financial assistance programs not only need to change to keep up with today's economy, the mindset of elected officials and our larger culture must change from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality. just looked up the relationship of social security benefits to food stamps, and it still isn't clear to me why food stamps are reduced by social security income when social security is not taxable as "earned income" by the IRS unless you receive over a certain amount. That amount is set incredibly low, though: https://www.ssa.gov/manage-benefits/request-withhold-taxes#:~:text=You%20will%20pay%20federal%20income,taxes%20withheld%20from%20your%20payment.
These programs are simply not in line with people’s real expenses. The food stamp allotment should have taken into account the inflation that set in after the pandemic. It did not. The numbers they use are old. I’d have to check on it but I can’t remember ever hearing that the figures they use to tabulate anyone’s food stamps have been updated. So the amounts awarded are ridiculous. I think it’s insulting to give anyone $23 a month. I could probably buy a case of dog food with that! But I could not buy my cat’s hydrolyzed cat food with it. His food costs $81 for a 14-lb. bag, which lasts a little over a month. He has food allergies, so he also gets orednisolone in his ears every other day. I spent a long time trying to figure out what was making him ill. Sigh!
I have a cat, too...and she is old enough to vote! And she also takes several medications and special food. I will look into how food stamp allotments are calculated for a follow-up post. And I will also look into what I think is currently a major snag, which I mentioned in my comment to you above: why does the government require a reduction in monthly food stamp allotments based on SS checks, regardless of how high the checks are...?
You got me. They reduced my amount when my rent decreased because I got a rent subsidized apartment.
42%?? Damn.
I wasn’t familiar with this acronym, but certainly aware of the problem. Didn’t know it was THIS bad. 😞
ALICE is new to me, too. And the organization, United for ALICE seems to be doing a super job with both their research and calling this hidden (and alarmingly large) group of people to the attention of elected officials and regular folks in individual counties and communities—they're taking it local/grassroots.
alarmingly large, indeed!