Not quite in the spirit of the season, EJ Antoni on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP):
“…for many of these people, [poverty]’s a choice!”
In point of fact CBPP indicates:
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that nearly 80 percent of participants are in households with a child under age 18, an adult age 60 or older, or an individual who is disabled. Children under age 18 constitute 40 percent of all SNAP participants.
and:
Most SNAP participants who can work do so. Over half of individuals who were participating in SNAP in a typical month in 2015 were working in that month. Further, 74 percent worked in the year before or after that month (in the 25-month period). Rates were even higher when including work among other household members: 89 percent of households with children and a non-disabled adult included at least one member who worked in this 25-month period. More than two-thirds of SNAP participants are not expected to work, primarily because they are children, older adults, or disabled people.
Don’t forget the last line of the exchange:
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
