The Alabama Department of Human Resources started adding a work component to their welfare program on Jan 1st. The results are shocking. They saw an 85% decrease in welfare enrollment.
As of Jan. 1, 2017, there were 13,663 able-bodied adults without dependents receiving food stamps statewide. That number dropped to 7,483 by May 1, 2017. Among the 13 counties, there were 5,538 adults ages 18-50 without dependents receiving food stamps as of Jan. 1, 2017. That number dropped to 831 – a decline of about 85 percent – by May 1, 2017.
“Based on the trend, the number of (able-bodied adults without dependents) recipients for SNAP benefits is expected to continue to decline statewide and in the formerly 13 exempted counties,” according to Alabama DHR spokesperson John Hardy.
Turns out adding a work component to welfare programs isn’t unusual. When they talk about adding a work component it has nothing to do with adding new legislation. They’re just going back to the original program design.
During the economic downturn of 2011-2013, several states – including Alabama – waived the SNAP work requirements in response to high unemployment. It was reinstituted for 54 counties on Jan. 1, 2016 and for the remaining 13 on Jan. 1, 2017. As of April 2017, the highest jobless rate among the 13 previously excluded counties was in Wilcox County, which reported a state-high unemployment rate of 11.7 percent, down more than 11 percentage points from the county’s jobless rate for the same month of 2011.
Maine did the same thing as Alabama with amazing results.
Source: AL
Image: Mashable
Good move the free ride cant last forever