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off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

In Case You Missed It...

| By CBPP

This week on Off the Charts, we focused on the safety net, health reform, the economy, and Social Security.

  • On the safety net, Dottie Rosenbaum warned that the November 1 cuts to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps) resulting from the end of the 2009 Recovery Act’s temporary boost will hit all SNAP recipients, including children, seniors, and people with disabilities.  Liz Schott pointed out that these SNAP cuts will hit many of the same struggling families who are seeing their cash benefits from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program erode over time.  Ife Floyd detailed how TANF cash assistance benefits for the nation’s poorest families fell again in purchasing power in 2013.

  • On health reform, Judy Solomon noted that hundreds of thousands of currently uninsured adults could gain coverage as more states look to expand Medicaid under health reform.  Paul Van de Water cautioned that raising the threshold for full-time work under health reform from 30 to 40 hours a week would make a shift to part-time work more likely.
  • On the economy, Chad Stone explained that the September jobs report shows that the labor market recovery remains disappointingly slow.
  • On Social Security, Kathy Ruffing noted that Social Security lifted 22 million people out of poverty in 2012.

In other news, we issued Chad Stone’s statement on the September jobs report.  We also issued papers on the impact of the November 1 SNAP cuts, the eroding value of TANF cash benefits, and the millions of people that Social Security kept out of poverty in 2012.  In addition, we updated our chart book on the legacy of the Great Recession and our backgrounder on the number of weeks of unemployment benefits available in each state.

A variety of news outlets featured CBPP’s work and experts recently.  Here are some highlights:

The Republicans' War on the Poor
Rolling Stone
October 24, 2013

CHART: Welfare Reform Is Leaving More In Deep Poverty
Mother Jones
October 23, 2013

The next food stamp crisis is about to hit
Los Angeles Times
October 21, 2013

Families With Kids Go Homeless as U.S. Rents Exceed Pay: Economy
Bloomberg Businessweek
October 18, 2013