Billions Spent, Little Changed: Why the System Needs Reform

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 According to the Cato Institute, 77% of Americans feel that government efforts to fight poverty have been ineffective. Poverty remains a glaring issue in our country, and the improvement of this social injustice falls into the lap of the government that has mishandled this problem for decades. It remains the government's duty to reform the system to create a more efficient delivery of basic human needs, and better economic means to those in poverty that improves long term success and discourages reliance on federal aid 

More basic human needs exist than food, water, and shelter: being a first world country, the United States government needs to reform the system to make the tangible needs accessible to every citizen. There is no single fix that would magically make all citizens have equitable access to food, water, and shelter, but there are steps that can be taken. To help aid clean water to citizens, legislation needs to invest in infrastructure in lower socioeconomic areas, along with strengthening shut off protections to ensure no American goes without water. In terms of food, there needs to be action taken to promote more efficient food assistance programs like SNAP. To increase shelter for individuals, homeless shelters aren’t the sole fix. It is necessary to increase the supply of affordable housing, along with rent stabilization policies. The issue isn’t scarcity, it’s improper distribution and inefficient management of funds. 

The prior examples used are all tangible fixes, there are still intangible fixes that are a root cause of keeping people below the poverty line. In the article, Hey, I think we’re unconstitutionally alone now: The eighth amendment protects social interaction as a basic human need, author Laura Matter stated, “Social isolation is on a par with high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise, or smoking as a risk factor for illness and early death”. Although the factor of social isolation is intangible, it’s as much of a right as water is to individuals. Poverty increases social isolation. This is apparent through lack of transportation, time, or safe spaces to interact with others. Social isolation then makes it harder for people to find housing, jobs, and various other networking opportunities. This in turn creates individuals without an escape from poverty.

Reform is needed within government policy for housing, schools, public places, and community programs to increase social interaction: which is the first step above the poverty line. More balance within communities, more available help for individuals, and cost efficient local solutions are needed. Just as food, water, and shelter are basic human needs, social interaction helps aid people's mental and physical wellbeing to help escape poverty.

There are no short term economic fixes to poverty. Stimulus checks and stipends help short term for individuals in poverty, but don’t help them stay above the poverty line. The immediate aid of cash in hand is essential to helping pay for rent, food, water, or utilities, but doesn’t aid permanent change. There is no change in the income structure of already struggling individuals. Housing and the cost of living continue to rise, there is no gain in asset building, and the systemic issues still remain.

Checks and stipends are putting a band aid on a bullet hole: even though the money is spent, the problems will still arise later. A long term systematic fix on top of raising minimum wage would be expanding job opportunities. Yes, raising the minimum wage would immediately help alleviate poverty, but it comes with a catch. People argue that an introduction of this policy would reduce hiring and increase the cost of small businesses. A more sustainable means of lowering the percentage of unemployed Americans could be seen with the introduction of more job opportunities and better training. 

A more efficient and equitable approach to education would tremendously help with diminishing poverty drivers like unemployment, lack of education, and networking. Long term economic reform with the goal of combating poverty would help keep citizens above the poverty line more than millions of stipends and checks ever could. The problem isn’t inadequate finances, it’s lack of efficiency in managing those funds.

The old saying of “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” applies directly to economic reform and helping people escape poverty: although you can make a better life accessible through hard work and consistency, it doesn’t mean people will always act on it. SNAP was created to help to aid Americans in poverty to fulfill their nutritional needs. The system has been abused and taken advantage of by individuals, which in turn keeps them below poverty, and creates a stigma of tax dollars being wasted. This abuse of SNAP is seen through retailer fraud, non-food purchases, and beneficiary trafficking. The stigma surrounding the misuse of EBT and SNAP frustrates many tax payers and acts as a catalyst for questioning the relevance of it: fraud undermines trust. 

The reality of the topic is that the fraud and abuse seen are minimal in terms of the overall financial situation. Approximately 1%-1.6% of all SNAP use is fraudulent. In the grand scheme of things, less than 2% of the aid is misused. Is the system perfect? No, but it is an essential part of our country for 42 million people rely on it per month according to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program.

A question that could arise, would be “Where is the money for these proposed changes going to come from?”, and the answer isn’t any more money from your pocket. According to the CBPP, $476 billion of tax payer money is used to combat poverty. This figure is already substantial, and what we need out of the government is better allocation of funds, not more taxes taking a toll on hard working Americans.

Poverty is a problem in the United States. Although government funding aimed to alleviate poverty has been abused by individuals in the past, it remains the government's duty to reform the system to create a more efficient delivery of basic human needs, and better economic means to those in poverty. The problem legislation faces isn’t about equality, but equity, for all situations are different, and all individuals require different needs.