UNDEREMPLOYED AND UNDER-RESOURCED: WHY STRICTER WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR SNAP WON'T WORK FOR ILLINOIS

Publication Date

4-5-2019

Document Type

Poster

Degree Type

Graduate

Department

Sociology/Anthropology

Mentor

Liv Stone

Mentor Department

Sociology/Anthropology

Abstract

All work is skilled work. Employment can be a pathway out of poverty, but many people encounter multiple barriers to finding quality, sustainable jobs, such as lack of access to transportation, unstable housing, and food insecurity. Since the passing and implementation of Welfare Reform in the late 1990s and early 2000s, access to social safety net benefits have been restricted through federally mandated work requirements. Access to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), formerly known as food stamps, is a critical, and the most successful, anti-hunger program across the nation. SNAP serves a monthly average of 1,914,393 people in Illinois alone. Despite the passing of a bipartisan Farm Bill in 2018, which strengthened SNAP funding and resources, the Trump Administration has proposed federal rule changes that would enact stricter work requirements for individuals seeking food assistance. This policy research project and annotated advocacy toolkit, made in partnership with the Chicago Jobs Council, looks into the effects that such policy changes would enact on the estimated 414,204 Illinoisans that would be at risk of losing food assistance, and how the state of Illinois can prepare for the impending changes.

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