Last week, the White House floated a proposal to change how we measure poverty in the U.S., a move that would reduce or eliminate assistance for millions of low-income Americans, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Here are five articles to read about what the change means and its impact.
- Trump is Turning a Good Idea Into a Tricky Way to Hurt the Poor [The Washington Post]: The White House is considering a rule that would require using the chained consumer price index to adjust the official poverty line, currently $25,750 for a family of four. The Editorial Board at the Washington Post writes that this proposal looks like an effort to cut spending on programs for the poor, which the Administration would be unable to achieve through legislation.
- The Trump Administration Wants to Muck With the Poverty Line, Making It Hard for Poor People to Get Food Stamps [Slate]: This plan would gradually cut or take away entirely programs like SNAP by changing how the official poverty line is calculated each year. Raising the poverty line slowly over time would result in fewer Americans eligible for government benefits from food aid to health insurance and housing assistance.
- Trump Administration Floating Change to Poverty Measure That Would Reduce or Eliminate Assistance to Millions of Lower-Income Americans [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities]: This proposal suggests using a lower measure of inflation to adjust the poverty line each year, which would make the eligibility threshold for programs that serve low-income Americans lower over time. This would result in lowering the income eligibility limits for programs like SNAP and Medicaid.
- Trump Wants to Change How Poverty is Calculated – to Make Fewer People Eligible for Benefits [Vox]: The White House proposal to change the way poverty is measured can be seen as an attempt to cut government programs. It’s hard to measure the immediate impact of the change, but the cut would be very concentrated – kicking some people off Medicaid and SNAP entirely, while leaving other in the programs unaffected. This means a small average effect, but an acute one on those impacted.
- Opinion: Trump Trying to Define Poverty Out of Existence [Taunton Gazette]: The proposed plan alters how the poverty threshold rises to inflation by using the “chained” consumer price index. Gradually, this change would lead to a decrease in the number of people living in poverty, not because they’re earning more money, but by defining them out of it.
Changing the definition of poverty does not solve the problem of poverty. This proposal punishes individuals and families for being poor despite the fact that many work hard but earn low wage.
