SNAP Archives - End Child Poverty in California

[PASADENA, CALIF., UNITED STATES, February 28, 2024] — Statement attributable to Karen Farley, Executive Director of the California WIC Association, and Shimica Gaskins, President and CEO of GRACE/End Child Poverty California, regarding the Fiscal Year 2024 bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration:

We urge Congress to both fully fund the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and reject any efforts promoting a policy of limiting food choice in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is the country’s most important anti-hunger program and the nutritional benefits of this program have been well documented. It has also been well documented that the best way to improve the nutrition of low-income households is to reduce stigma in the current program and to increase the benefits provided in the program. The proposal to pilot restricting food purchases endeavors to do neither.

WIC served nearly a million Californians in 2023, and more than half (54%) of all infants born in California were certified by WIC in 2018. Full funding for WIC is urgently needed to ensure continuity of the nutrition, breastfeeding, and other critical supports that pregnant and parenting adults, and babies, rely upon every day.

Funding for WIC is in no way related to funding for SNAP, and the programs should not be pitted against one another.

Policymakers have a responsibility to keep America’s children fed and ensure their long-term health and success. WIC must be fully funded, and SNAP recipients must be allowed to continue make their food purchasing decisions based on the needs of their family.

End Child Poverty in California (ECPCA) is a campaign jointly sponsored by GRACE End Child Poverty Institute and GRACE (Gather, Respect, Advocate, Change, Engage).

GRACE End Child Poverty Institute is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that uses advocacy, legislative advocacy and mobilization programs to achieve its mission. The mission of GRACE End Child Poverty is to make a positive difference in the lives of low-income families and their children through value-based collaborations and by formulating, implementing, and expanding measures to reduce barriers to full personal development and economic stability.

The “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” phrase is everywhere. But let’s name it for what it is: a bully phrase that insults millions of working families living on a razor’s edge every day.

If you pay attention to stories and statistics, you know that working families are already pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.

78% of families on Medicaid include a family member who works.
Of families who receive SNAP, the federal food assistance program, 55% are working families, and 71% of families who turn to food pantries have a household member who is working.
Demanding, critical careers like home health aides (averaging $23,600 per year) and child-care workers (averaging $21,170 per year) pay too little to cover basic costs like rent or childcare.

Veronica, a member of our community, shared, “The bureaucracy is astounding when it comes to families applying to ‘child care subsidies,’ even a mom with three children who is working and earning $18 an hour can’t afford child care, and if she does, it’s not available after 5:00pm, half an hour earlier than what she needs, because of her work schedule!”

Bootstraps are clearly not enough.

We need comprehensive, research-backed strategies to dramatically reduce poverty—strategies that meet the needs of California’s hard-working families.

Our next generation is depending on us. Join us.

Enough Is Enough with the “Bootstraps”

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