| For millions of Americans, earnings alone are not sufficient to make ends meet. Some work steadily at wages too low to lift their families out of poverty - in 1995-1996, more than 4.5 million worked full time at the minimum wage, which was then 85 percent of the federal poverty line for a three-person family. (Because the minimum wage has not been raised since then, inflation has eroded its value to only 68 percent of the poverty line in 2004.) Others are unable to work steadily or at all, because of disability, family crisis, old age, or poor economic conditions. When an adequate income from work is not possible, Americans should be able to count on a cash assistance safety net. A number of federal and/or state programs provide cash support to needy individuals or families. They include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), for poor families with children; Supplemental Security Income (SSI), for low-income elderly and people of any age with disabilities; and Unemployment Compensation, for qualifying unemployed people. Increasingly, America's safety net is failing to catch many people in need. Only 43 percent of unemployed workers received Unemployment Compensation in 2001 because of restrictive eligibility rules. Because Congress allowed extra weeks of benefits for the long-term unemployed to expire, 2 million people unemployed for more than 6 months are ineligible for help. Restrictive rules governing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families have resulted in a precipitous drop in the number of poor families with children receiving this assistance. In 1993, more than 80 percent of families with children poor enough to qualify for cash assistance received it; by 2001, fewer than half (48 percent) did so. Effective income support policy should help people assemble an adequate income package. For many, earnings will form the core of such a package, augmented, as appropriate, by tax credits, child support, and various forms of cash assistance. In-kind aid, such as food stamps, home energy assistance, Medicaid, and subsidized housing, also play a role in helping families or individuals to secure basic necessities. Center for Community Change
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
National Women's Law Center
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