Temporary Assistance To Needy Families (SNAP)

Those who do live at poverty level though have a few options to help temporarily relieve some of the stressors of living life at the poverty level. The government offers programs like Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and WIC. The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) is a program that provides grants to states to provide assistance to needy families but it is up to the state how funds are distributed ("Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) | Office of Family Assistance | Administration for Children and Families," n.d.). The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal nutrition program that offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals

These programs are only designed to help support those at poverty level they are not meant to assist someone in getting out of poverty also these programs are also looked down upon in society. There are those in upper-class families that view those on these assistance programs as living off of the system or that they are lazy and do not want to work. This is not the case as shown in a 2004 labor report, which stated that there was at least one adult with a job in 60% of families on food stamps that had both kids and a nondisabled, working-age adult and they found that 96% of those who worked in the prior year to receiving food stamps continued to work after getting the benefits (Rosenbaum, 2013). Those in poverty are working and trying to make their lives better for their families and themselves and having these programs available to them can greatly improve their chances of getting out of

One common myth that society has about poverty is that those who live at poverty level are uneducated individuals, this is just not true. In 2012, approximately 1.1 million people who made less than $25,000 a year, worked full time, and were heads of households has a bachelor’s degree (Eichelberger, 2014). Another common myth is that people who live at poverty level and receive assistance are bankrupting the nation, again this is another myth. In 2012, total welfare funding was 0.47% of the federal budget (Eichelberger, 2014). There are some in the society that even believe that we as a country are winning the war on poverty and that there are less American’s living at or below the poverty level. This is another myth because the number of households with children living on less than $2.00 a day per person has grown 160% since 1996, to a total of 1.65 million families in 2011 (Eichelberger, 2014). These are myths that society needs to see the truth in and gain a better sense of reality on the situation and understand how poverty affects