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Articles on Safety net

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School meal waivers that started with the COVID-19 pandemic stopped with the end of the public health emergency. Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Free school meals for all may reduce childhood obesity, while easing financial and logistical burdens for families and schools

Since nutrition standards were strengthened in 2010, eating at school provides many students with healthier food than is available cheaply elsewhere. Plus, reducing stigma increases the number of kids getting fed.
Few people with SNAP benefits could use them for online purchases before the COVID-19 pandemic. Urupong/ iStock via Getty Images Plus

Letting low-income Americans buy groceries online in 2020 with SNAP benefits decreased the share of people without enough food – new research

The share of low-income US families who sometimes or often didn’t have enough food to eat fell from 24.5% to 22.5% between late April and late July of 2020, a research team found.
This safety net program helps infants, toddlers and their moms eat right. Camille Tokerud/Stone via Getty Images

2 in 5 US babies benefit from the WIC nutrition program

Funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children quickly halts during government shutdowns.
Many older people with health insurance coverage through Medicare still can’t afford the care they need. RichLegg/E+ via Getty Images

Where the government draws the line for Medicaid coverage leaves out many older Americans who may need help paying for medical and long-term care bills – new research

Increasing the number of older people with both Medicaid and Medicare would mean fewer of them would be forced to skimp on the care and treatment they need.
Denying waivers to survivors of domestic violence can hinder their independence from their abusers. Alvaro Medina Jurado/Moment via Getty Images

Work requirements don’t work for domestic violence survivors – but Michigan data shows they rarely get waivers they should receive for cash assistance

People who have experienced domestic violence can have trouble finding and keeping jobs because of physical injuries and their abusers’ efforts to sabotage their employment.
Many Americans in their early 50s take care of older loved ones. FredFroese/E+ via Getty Imagres

GOP’s proposed expansion of SNAP work requirements targets many low-income people in their early 50s – but many of them already work

Republicans are pressing for policy changes based on a misconception that hardly anyone who gets help buying groceries with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits is employed.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy got the House to approve a package that could reduce the Medicaid program’s scale. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Medicaid work requirements would leave more low-income people without health insurance – but this policy is unlikely to pass this time around

Adults insured by Medicaid who are 19 to 55 years old and don’t have children or other dependents would need to spend 80 hours a month doing paid work, job training or community service.

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