Government Shutdown Impacts Low-Income Americans The Most
From SNAP To Head Start: Government Shutdown Impacts Low-Income Americans The Most
The effects of the monthlong government shutdown have gone from mostly affecting federal workers to upending the lives of the most vulnerable Americans. While partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits may be distributed as soon as this week, thousands of parents nationwide are scrambling to find childcare as Head Start programs shutter due to a lack of funding.
According to CBS News, there are 65,000 children nationwide who rely on Head Start programs for care. Head Start is a federally funded program that provides assistance with early childhood development for low-income families. In addition to providing education assistance, Head Start also provides health and dental screenings, as well as nutritional support for low-income kids. The National Head Start Association has said that 140 Head Start programs will close their doors this month as the government shutdown has resulted in a lapse of funding.
“I think families are going to feel like the rug is being yanked out from underneath them,” Tawny Hardyman, the director of Southwest CAP Head Start, told CBS News. Jennie Mauer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Head Start Association, explained to CBS News the larger consequences of Head Start programs being shuttered.
“In Wisconsin, we know that the majority of our Head Start Families are working in our communities, and when parents don’t have safe child care, they struggle to get to work,” Mauer told CBS News. “These Head Start programs are cornerstones of their local communities — helping folks get to work, employing people, and spending money with local trades.”
While the effects of the federal funding freeze have been felt by all Americans, it is low-income Americans who are bearing the brunt of the consequences. The government shutdown comes as the weather begins to cool across the East Coast. Funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program has also lapsed, leaving many low-income families concerned about utility shutoffs.
“I feel like I’m living in scary times. It’s not easy to rest when you know you have things to do with limited accounts, limited funds. There isn’t too much you can do,” Jacqueline Chapman, a retired school aide living off social security, told AP.
One of the things that’s angered me to no end about the trite “welfare queen” narrative the GOP has tried to spin about the loss of SNAP benefits is that it completely ignores the fact that there are so many retired, elderly people living on fixed incomes who rely on these benefits to survive. Not to mention, white folks make up the majority of people relying on public assistance. Lyndon B. Johnson clocked it when he said, “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket.”
The ounce of hope in all this is that SNAP benefits could potentially resume this week. A coalition of states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration to restart SNAP benefits. The government has shut down several times before, with the longest lasting nearly two months, but this is the first time in the history of the program that it has failed to distribute funds. Two separate judges ruled last week that the federal government must use contingency funds to distribute SNAP benefits for the month.
NBC reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made the surprising announcement that the Trump administration won’t appeal the ruling during an interview with CNN on Sunday. He added that the administration could potentially distribute SNAP benefits by Wednesday. “There’s a process that has to be followed. So, we’ve got to figure out what the process is,” Bessent told CNN.
So while low-income families still have to worry about staying warm and finding child care, at the very least, they should be able to have food on the table sooner as opposed to later.
SEE ALSO:
Here’s Where We Are In The Current Government Shutdown
Democrats, GOP Negotiate To End Government Shutdown
From SNAP To Head Start: Government Shutdown Impacts Low-Income Americans The Most was originally published on newsone.com
