Supplemental Income Program Essay

On August 14, 1935 in Austin, Texas, President Franklin D. Roosevelt inked his signature on the Social Security Act. It was originally implemented to resolve problems with unemployment, old age insurance, and public health and welfare. The Great Depression was the catalyst for the creation of the Social Security program, and the basic structure was very similar to Germany’s social insurance programs from the 1880s. Today, social security is mostly used for retired senior citizens starting at the age of 62. At 62, American citizens can begin to collect, but will only receive 35% of their monthly benefit due, rather than the maximum amount of 50% when they reach the full retirement age of 66. (cite) In addition, social security is dispersed to about 14 million disabled people under the age of 62, who can no longer work in the labor force for various reasons. The people who qualify as disabled are just a small percentage of those collecting compared to senior citizens, and are often not mentioned when social security issues are brought up because of their minute effects on social security distribution.

Food stamps are an important component of low-income families’ monthly resources, increasing the chances that families are able to meet basic needs (Ratcliffe, McKernan & Finegold, 2008). This form of food relief dates back to the Great Depression when many Americans lost their jobs and did not have money to feed their families. People were starving while farmers produced abundant crop that could not be sold due to a lack of consumers with buying power (Dorsch, 2013). The Federal Surplus Relief Corporation which was a part of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, bought basic farm goods at low prices and distributed the among hunger relief agencies in different states and local communities (Congressional Digest, 2013).

Another program was Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program it was established to provide a minimum income for the disabled, blind and older Americans. This program works to help recipients with vocational skills therefore they can seek work opportunities. This is one of the least criticized programs by the public because the recipients are physically “worthy” of their benefits (J. Marx, 2004).

SNAP is the foundation of nutrition assistance programs. This program provides over 47 million individuals in nearly 23 million low-income households. The eligibility is not restricted to certain groups of individuals, and because of this, SNAP serves a vast amount of families with children, elderly people, and individuals with disabilities. Others eligible for SNAP include families with adults who work in low-wage jobs, unemployed workers, and those with a fixed income. The SNAP Program assists about 72 percent of people who live in households with children. Nearly 25 percent of households with seniors and individuals with disabilities, are also assisted (Rosenbaum, 2013).

Some Social Security disability beneficiaries may have to pay federal income taxes, while some do not. Here are ways to determine whether or not you have to pay taxes on social security disability benefits.

OSAP, a program designed to benefit Ontario residents in need; they can apply to receive a Canada-Ontario integrated student loan through the Ontario Student Assistance Program or OSAP. The program was started back in the 1990’s, by the Ontario government to enable those with lower incomes to receive loans, grants and scholarships which allows them to have the ability to pay for their post secondary education.

The Social Security Act was created as a way to help keep families together. It helped disabled individuals against the expense of their illness. As well as it gave children and families a chance to live a healthy and secure life. The first two programs were the most essential at this time. The first program Title I, was a grant for old-age assistance. The second program that developed was Title II, which was a federal assistance for old-age, survivors and individuals with disabilities that included insurance benefits. The act includes a large list of programs that one might qualify for such as, retirement insurance, disability insurance, medical insurance for elderly, veterans benefits, unemployment insurance and much more. According

As of 2013, one sixth of the entire country was enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Through this program, 47 million Americans are given federal financial aid to purchase fresh groceries (Plumer). One of the highly debated provisions of the SNAP program is what participants should be allowed to use their food stamps for. As of right now, food stamps can only be used to purchase food that can be cooked or eaten at home, preventing families from spending the federal aid at restaurants (USDA). Recently, the fast food corporation YUM!, which owns Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut, has lobbied to change this restriction (USA Today). Should people benefitting from the SNAP program have the right to spend their money on

However in other states, the Social Security Administration provides payments to those living in facilities, but the State provides the payments to individuals in the community. Only six states have not provided for a supplement to the federal rate. Twenty-two states provide supplements for special needs instead of all recipients within the state. Twenty-three states provide a supplement to all single and couple claimants that will bring a claimant’s federal benefits up to the current Federal Benefit Rate. Twenty-eight states provide no universal supplement for non-elderly adult SSI recipients. These states account for fifty-three percent of all non-elderly adult SSI recipients. Several states provide supplements that less than fifty dollars per month to all

     Several federal agencies today support and administer the various Social Security programs. The programs associated with Social Security include Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI), Medicare, Unemployment Compensation, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). For people who have worked for a living, OASDI and Medicare provide support during their older years and when they have stopped working. Unemployment Compensation provides temporary financial help during periods between jobs. SSI provides income to people who cannot work for various reasons. The OASDI

Health care has been in the forefront in U.S politics in the last 10 years due to the Affordable Care Act which passed leading to mixed results. This topic has divided political parties where the Republic party have gone against the passing of Obama Care and have considered it a failure. The push for more affordable health care is not the only issue facing the U.S. Government aid, it has been drastically cut leading to many free health services to be scarce. This is due in part by the political ideology of neo-liberalism which goes against policies like the Affordable Care Act. It calls for a push against government spending on public health care. While you have voiced in favor of the Affordable Care Act and increase in government spending for Health care, such as medications and services for mental health; you do not take into account racial and class inequalities in your policies which can greatly impacts their lives.

The start of the Food Stamp Program, now known as SNAP, began after the Great Depression in 1939 (Caswell, & Yaktin, 2013). Henry Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture, and Milo Perkins, the program’s first Administrator, are among the most notable people in starting the program (USDA, 2017b). The main goal of the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation, a nonprofit and noncapital corporation, was to encourage the consumption of surplus food in the United States as a form of unemployment benefit. This program entailed people to purchase orange stamps for $1, up to the amount they usually spent on groceries, for every dollar they spend they received blue stamps worth 50 cents. Blue stamps were used to purchase foods that the USDA said to be in surplus; orange stamps

SSI recipients get a check every month from Social Security Administration. That check amount currently is 889.40, consisting of $733 from the federal government and $156 that is supplemented from the state of California. Over the last fifteen years, the state of California has made some decisions that have affected the amount it supplements drastically in order to save the state some money. In 2009, the SSP was cut from 233 to 171 for single adults. in 2011 the state made cut the portion they provide from $171 to $156. In a two year span the state of California eliminate $77 from people budgets. The state also decided to mess with the Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) that are given yearly. Starting in the year 2001, the state passed the

United States Government Welfare began in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Franklin D. Roosevelt thought of this system as an aid for low-income families whose men were off to war, or injured while at war. The welfare system proved to be beneficial early on by giving families temporary aid, just enough to help them accommodate their family’s needs. Fast forward almost 90 years, and it has become apparent that this one once helpful system, has become flawed. Welfare itself and the ideologies it stands on, contains decent fundamentals; furthermore, this system of aid needs only to be reformed to better meet the needs of today’s society.

The change from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which has been capped at a five-year lifetime limit for benefits, and it has given stricter eligibility criteria, which includes a requirement of workforce participation. This has sent many seeking Supplemental Security Income (SSI), to do so they need a diagnosed disability. Mental health and chronic pain claims have now become nearly the only way to get access to stable benefits. As these families are experiencing a greater economic hardship, many are finding that applying for SSI based on mental disability is the only way they can survive.