JANUARY 2-5, 2020

Poverty and the States’ Administration of Programs

​

Pamela Herd, PhD

Professor
McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University

Poverty and Safety Net Programs

In 2020, the official US Census Bureau’s definition of poverty is $25,750 total income for a family of four. In 2017, an estimated 39.7 million Americans (12.3%) were living in poverty.  A newer measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), takes into account the impact of significant expenditures. By this measure, the 2017 poverty rate was 13.9%. The SPM yields higher rates than the official measure for the elderly, who may incur substantial medical expenses, but lower rates for younger citizens who receive support from other safety net programs. Such safety net programs have been effective in reducing poverty rates.

​Trends in poverty

​Impact of safety net programs on poverty

The green bars represent the additional percentage of people who would live below the Supplemental Poverty level if safety net programs did not exist.

Administrative Burdens

Unfortunately, safety net programs are layered with administrative burdens that can make accessing them difficult to impossible for some people. These barriers include:

• Learning costs, such as figuring out what supports are available

• Compliance costs, including the challenge to meet documentation and reporting requirements

• Psychological costs, such as disabled people or parents of disabled children strive to cope with daily challenges

Burdens impact safety net policy effectiveness

Confusion about eligibility requirements, complex and arcane forms, long waits, and a requirement for repeatedly updated documentation erect substantial barriers to accessing safety net programs. For example, many elderly people who are eligible for Food Stamps have comorbidities, such as other illnesses that make it difficult to manage the complicated application processes, such as the requirement to report out of pocket healthcare expenditures to prove eligibility.

Strategies to reduce these burdens

A necessary first step is transparency. We have to identify and measure the barriers in attempting to access services and determine what percent of eligible people are actually accessing or missing out on programs. Then a rational approach maximizing automation can be directed at those challenges. For example, even simply providing people with a pre-populated electronic form increased participation from 24% to 60% in one program. Finally, engaging with third parties who have visibility to eligibility data, such as tax preparers, could identify eligible participants.

​One Mother’s StoryWhen one single mother with a disabled child was in need of help, she had to reapply for a program every few months, whether it was SNAP, WIC coupons for milk and cereal, or child care grants. Since she was self-employed and supplemented her income with student loans, she had to provide proof of the hours pent in clients’ homes, either by receipt of deposit of monies earned or a statement from the client. It was exhausting, labor-intensive, and often meant many hours on the phone, or at the department’s office, waiting for several hours in line—time that cost her jobs and money.

Discussion occurred after the next speaker’s presentation. {LINK to Discussion}

​

Sen. Larry Taylor (TX) chats with Holly Borgmann (ADT) between sessions about his State's strategies to address poverty.

Speaker Biography

Pamela Herd  

Pamela Herd is a professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on inequality and how it intersects with health, aging, and policy. She is also an expert in survey research and biodemographic methods. She is currently the Chair of the Board of Overseers for the General Social Survey, a member of the Board of Overseers for the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a board member for the Population Association of American, and a standing member of a National Institutes for Health review panel for the Social and Population Sciences. She has received grant awards for her work from the National Institutes for Health, National Institutes on Aging, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and AARP. Pamela and co-author Donald P. Moynihan pubiished Administrative Burden: Policymaking by Other Means (Russell Sage Foundation) in 2018.