SNAP Abuse

The subsidization of joblessness is shrinking the workforce and placing a greater burden on those who do work.

The Biden administration and multiple states are misusing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to give taxpayer money to people who can work but do not, Matthew D. Dickerson, director of budget policy at the Economic Policy Innovation Center, shows in his newly released Food Stamp Chartbook:

Interestingly, able-bodied adults aged 18-59 are more likely to work than childless ones, as the chart above shows. That indicates that the program is subsidizing indolence among the latter, as they do not even have the excuse of being occupied with the raising of children. Recipients with children show a greater likelihood of trying to improve their lot in life.

The subsidization of joblessness is shrinking the workforce and placing a greater burden on those who do work (now through taxes and both now and later through federal debt):

The Biden administration and blue states are abusing a loophole in the law, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity notes:

New modest federal work requirements have begun to kick in, but most blue state pols aren’t enforcing that law or have waived the mandate. Democrats view food stamps as an economic stimulus and/or virtuous income redistribution.

The villain here is the Biden administration (and Congress) that refuses to mandate work for welfare. This was a hallmark of the Clinton administration reforms in 1996. Now work requirements are regarded as cruel.

There is a clear red-state/blue-state difference in the granting of waivers, indicating that this is a political issue and not simply a matter of greater need or humanitarian impulses, as a chart by Dickerson illustrates:

SNAP is another corrupted federal government welfare program that needs serious reform.