[Faith & Hunger] Start the New Year with the Welfare Challenge
Dunleamark at aol.com
Dunleamark at aol.com
Fri Dec 7 15:00:53 EST 2007
Dear Friends:
It has been 17 years since New York State lawmakers last raised the welfare
grant. The basic welfare grant is still $291 a month for a family of 3. The
welfare shelter allowance - despite more than 20 years of litigation where the
courts have ruled it is illegally low - still falls way below the real cost
of housing.
We are asking Governor Spitzer to correct this shameful situation by raising
the basic welfare grant in the state budget he will release at the end of
January 2008. If he restored the basic grant to its purchasing power in 1990,
it would come to $475 a month.
To draw attention to the problem of low welfare benefits, we are asking
state officials and concerned New York residents to take the Public Assistance
Challenge - to live on the welfare grant for one week, starting Jan. 1. (You can
then join us at the annual People's State of the State Rally on Tues. Jan. 8
at the State Capitol at noon.)
Now quite a few people have thrown up their hands when they have looked at
the Public Assistance Challenge, exclaiming "it is impossible to live on what
welfare gives you." Yes, it is impossible, but more than half a million New
Yorkers have forced to do so.
Even if you decide you can't possibly exist for even a week on the welfare
grant, we hope you will still take the challenge. Sit down each day with your
family and discuss what things you would have to cut out of life that day if
you lived on welfare. Even that process will be an eye-opener.
And ask your state legislator to take the Public Assistance Challenge. And
when they tell you it is impossible, say exactly, now tell the Governor to
raise the grant.
If you would like to participate in the challenge (even as an exercise)
please let us know by contacting Mark Dunlea, Hunger Action Network of NYS,
_dunleamark at aol.com_ (mailto:dunleamark at aol.com) , 518 434-7371 xt 1#, 275 State
St., Albany NY 12210. _www.hungeractionnys.org_
(http://www.hungeractionnys.org/) . Groups can also order postcards on the welfare grant to send to Governor
Spitzer.
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE CHALLENGE: CAN YOU AND YOUR FAMILY LIVE ON A PUBLIC
ASSISTANCE GRANT FOR A WEEK?
New York's public assistance grant has not been increased for 17 years.
Families dependent on public assistance are asked to survive on a grant that is
less than half the federal poverty line. In order to bring public attention
to the plight of New York's poorest families, we are asking public
officials, clergy, media personalities, and others to try to live for one week
spending no more than the amount allowed by the public assistance grant.
Family Size
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Monthly Amount
$112.00
$179.00
$200.20
$231.49
$268.99
$306.84
$338.49
$376.74
Weekly Amount
$25.85
$41.31
$46.20
$53.42
$62.07
$70.81
$78.11
$86.94
Public Assistance Challenge Guidelines:
What are families expected to pay for with their "basic allowance?"
q Transportation - all non-work related transportation.
q Personal Care Items - toilet paper, dishwashing soap, deodorant,
disposable diapers, toothpaste, housecleaning supplies, etc.
q Clothing - obviously we can survive for a week without buying new
clothing but please include in your expenses the cost of laundry and dry
cleaning. Most public assistance recipients do not own their own washers and
dryers so please calculate the cost of each load of wash as if you had to use a
public laundromat. (For Saratoga Springs, $1.75 per load of wash; 8 minutes
per quarter for the dryer so you can estimate about $3.00 per load plus
detergent. This would probably be higher in New York City.)
q Meals away from home --- any fast food, coffee, etc.
q Items not Eligible for Food Stamps: Households CANNOT use food
stamp benefits to buy: Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, or tobacco; Any nonfood
items, such as pet foods; soaps, paper products; household supplies; vitamins
and medicines; food that will be eaten in the store; or hot foods.
q School supplies, books, newspapers
q Parental contributions for school trips, Girl or Boy Scout troop
dues, religious contributions
q Telephone service, cell phone fees, internet access, monthly cable
fees, pay phone charges - these can be divided by 4.33 to calculate a weekly
amount
q Co-pays for prescription drugs; doctors visits, etc.
Items which may be covered by other allowances and food stamps and therefore
should not be included in your daily expenditures:
q Rent - although many families are forced to use part of their basic
allowance for rent, we will assume that your shelter allowance covers your
rent or mortgage
q Food - assuming you spend no more than the USDA "Thrifty Food Plan"
amount for food
q Home energy - including heat
q Work-related transportation
v If you are able to live within this budget, please take a minute to
write down what life was like spending so little. What things that you
usually buy do you have to give up to live within the budget? A letter to your
state legislators and the editor of your local newspaper about your experience
would be great.
v If you were not able to live within this budget (which we expect will
be the more likely case) please let us know
o how many days before you exhausted your public assistance
"allowance"
o what were the items you needed to purchase that "broke the budget."
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
TOTAL
Transportation
Personal care
Household operations
Laundry
Diapers
Food Away from Home
Telephone
Cable TV
Internet
School supplies, other school expenses
Newspapers, magazines
Medical or prescription co-pays
TOTAL
Notes:
The public assistance "grant" in New York is actually made up of a number of
allowances, many of which vary not only by family size but also by county of
residence and fuel used to heat your home. Most families on public
assistance also receive food stamp benefits. In order to simplify this exercise we
will focus only on the basic allowance (sometimes referred to as the Food &
Other Allowance or the PreAdd Allowance) that varies only by family size. Since
the food stamp benefit calculation assumes that a portion of the basic
allowance is used to purchase food, the food stamp expected contribution towards
food expenditures has been subtracted from the basic allowances used in this
exercise.
Family Size
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Monthly Pre Add Allowance
$112.00
$179.00
$238.00
$307.00
$379.00
$438.00
$498.00
$558.00
Expected Food Stamp Contribution
$0.00
$0.00
$37.80
$75.51
$110.01
$131.16
$159.51
$181.26
Net Monthly Pre Add Allowance
$112.00
$179.00
$200.20
$231.49
$268.99
$306.84
$338.49
$376.74
Note: Expected food stamp contribution was calculated as 30% of income after
subtracting the maximum "excess shelter deduction" of $431 and the standard
deduction which ranges from $134 to $191 per month depending on family size.
Some elderly recipients may have a lower expected contribution because
their shelter deduction is not subject to the cap.
Limiting the exercise to the basic allowance makes a HUGE assumption ---
that a family is able to pay all rent with the shelter allowance, pay all
domestic utilities with the Home Energy Allowance and the Supplemental Home Energy
Allowance, pay heating costs with the Fuel for Heating Allowance and cover
food costs with the food stamp benefits plus its expected contribution. Since
these other allowances and food stamp benefits have not kept up with the
increases in living costs, most families dependent on cash assistance are forced
to use a part of their basic allowance to cover these other costs and have
even less to spend.
Nevertheless, we believe that the basic allowance is so inadequate that even
if a family does not have to use any of it to cover rent, utilities and heat
AND the family receives the maximum food stamp benefit, it would be
impossible to cover basic family needs with this meager amount. Therefore we are
challenging folks to give this a try.
Public Assistance New Year’s Challenge
___ Yes, I will participate in the PA Challenge on Jan. 1, 2008
Name(s) ___________________________
Organization / Office ____________________________________________
Address ___________________________________ Town/City _____________________
Zip______
Phone ______________________
email_______________________________________________
Return to: Hunger Action Network, 275 State St., Albany NY 12210; 518
434-7371 xt1#; fax 434-7390, dunleamark at aol.com
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