NY Mayor Seeks to Ease Aid Requirements for Childless Poor

Mayor Seeks to Lower a Barrier for Food Stamps – New York Times

The waiver now being sought by the city, which is expected to be approved by the federal government, would affect adults ages 18 to 49 who are not responsible for a child or incapacitated relative and are not physically or mentally unfit for work. The federal welfare overhaul of 1996 imposed a three-month limit on food stamps in any three-year period for this group, known as able-bodied adults without dependents.
The overhaul allowed states to request a waiver of the three-month time limit for residents of areas with relatively high unemployment rates. Most big cities that have been eligible currently receive the waiver, including Chicago, Seattle and Washington.
“New York has been unusual in being one of the only cities in the country eligible for the waiver that has not had it,” said Robert Greenstein, executive director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research group in Washington.

This is an issue that has long bothered me – if you’re poor and have children and you’re not working, you qualify for more benefits than if you’re poor without dependentsm and not working. Some cities had started to address this by applying for the waiver on the 3 month limit, and New York is finally making the move to request it. It’s an issue of fairness – a single homeless or indigent person has a lot fewer resources, and probably is lacking family to fall back on, too.

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