Read in English
Low- and middle-income Americans often have trouble enrolling in social safety net programs due to unclear eligibility and poor customer service, according to a new report. Hispanic Americans and people with disabilities have the most difficulties.
As a result, many low-income Americans may end up not receiving unemployment insurance, food stamps, children’s health insurance, and other public benefits for which they qualify. These programs are designed to help Americans stay afloat when they’re struggling financially, but if they don’t receive the resources they may fall further behind, according to the Urban Institute report.
The report shows that instead of “pushing people out,” social safety net programs need to be improved through more streamlined requirements and better customer service so they can better provide resources to people when they need them, he said. Jennifer Ng’andu, program manager at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the Urban Institute report.
“It’s about the fundamental idea that when you need help, you have to get it,” Ng’andu said.
More than half of low- and moderate-income Americans applied for or received at least one of the various social safety net programs the Urban Institute studied in 2021, including unemployment insurance, disability insurance, food stamps, food, supplemental security income, children’s health insurance, rental assistance and cash assistance, according to the report. The country was in the midst of a pandemic in 2021, and many Americans had lost their jobs.
“We all know someone who needed help during the pandemic, probably a family member or an elderly person who needed one of these programs,” Ng’andu said. The report showed that “the majority (about 55%) of low- and moderate-income families applied for these social programs so they could expand their income and really get some help.”
Four in 10 Americans had trouble enrolling in one or more social safety net programs, according to the report.
In addition, between 20% and 40% of people surveyed for the report said they didn’t feel they received the courtesy or respect they deserve, depending on the program, Ng’andu said.
Adults who applied for TANF and unemployment insurance were the most likely to say that program staff never or only sometimes treated family members with courtesy and respect, according to the report.
According to the report, Latino Americans were more likely than black and white adults to have difficulty enrolling in food stamps and children’s health insurance benefits. These two programs have the largest number of participants. Enrollment difficulties and poor treatment were common among Latin Americans and people with disabilities, two groups that have long experienced inequalities, the report noted.
People who experience disrespect are less likely to enroll or receive the benefits they need, Ng’andu said.
“When you seek help… having an experience that stigmatizes, having an experience that treats you unworthily can affect your ability to not only get those resources, but to make the most of them,” Ng’andu said.
Social safety net programs are funded by the federal government, but are administered by federal employees or by state and local employees through grants awarded by the federal government to states.
Marla McDaniel, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute and co-author of the report, said improving access to public benefits must include changing the way Americans trying to enroll in safety net programs are viewed.
“The challenges and stigmatizing customer service that many people experience when seeking help are symptomatic of a long-standing emphasis on ‘earnings’ in America’s public programs,” McDaniel said in a written statement. “Policies and practices that promote respectful access to resources to meet basic needs is a matter of justice and equity, which is a necessity to ensure economic well-being for future generations.”
Translation: Javier Arce
