But a study conducted by the Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation found that as the annual earned income increases, the total gross resources for a single mother of one remains relatively flat due to less access to social assistance programs. Single mothers, and women in general, usually bear the brunt of that.”Ī pay raise is usually equated to a better quality of life, so the idea that people could be worse off after receiving a wage increase is hard to imagine. “It can be worth $900 a month here in New York City and that’s a pretty big expense. Women can lose their childcare subsidy,” says Karen Schoellkopf, co-founder of Leap Fund, an innovative organization piloting a first of its kind program allowing users to defer their income until they earn enough to replace what they’ll lose in benefits. “Women are overwhelmingly the primary caretakers of children. The prospect of losing SNAP and childcare forces women to choose between working longer hours and not working at all-which isn’t a choice at all.
Although we do not have a study that working and single moms are most affected, the stories indicate that this is highly likely.”Īn increase in wages comes with a conundrum for many, especially single working mothers of color, who will find themselves forced to choose between vital public benefits and a living wage. “What we should be doing is helping individuals and families stabilize themselves so they can provide for themselves comfortably and securely. “We do not want to increase wages while simultaneously devastating other benefits-this is counterproductive,” said New York State Assemblymember (D-North Brooklyn) Joseph R. Yet, for a family of three in New York to qualify for SNAP, she would have to earn $27,732 a year. According to data by the Women’s Center for Education and Career Advancement, a single mother of two children in Brooklyn would have to earn more than $60,000 annually to be considered self-sufficient. A 2016 study conducted by Rutgers University about the impact of the benefits cliff in New Jersey found that for a low-income single mother of two, there was a sudden drop off in benefits as their hourly income reached $22.11 an hour. Of all workers, single mothers are disproportionately being pushed off the benefits cliff. Critical social services such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), child-care assistance, health-care coverage, subsidized housing, and the Earned Income Tax Credit, can vanish because of earnings of as little as a few hundred dollars over the qualifying threshold. Many states, such as Alabama enforce strict income requirements and limits that force families to choose between the needs of their children and an increased income. Known as the “benefits cliff,” the little-discussed phenomenon occurs when a family’s income increases to the point where they no longer qualify for public benefits. But the increase in wages comes with a conundrum for many, especially single working mothers of color, who will find themselves forced to choose between vital public benefits and a living wage.
By the end of the year, wages will be raised to $15 an hour. Since 2016, New York-as with other states thanks to the $15 Now movement-has been gradually increasing its minimum wage. “So I had to contact New York State Health and was instructed that once I received unemployment benefits that they would change my monthly fee based on what I was receiving from unemployment.”įor many working-class New Yorkers, the new year brought with it a much-needed pay raise. “Literally two weeks or so after that, I didn’t get accepted for the summer program,” she says. Worse yet, Hill found herself out of work and put through a bureaucratic ordeal. The income for her second job caused her premiums to skyrocket and was way more than she could afford. Yet, when it came to recertify for her Medicaid, she found that her monthly payments jumped from $20 a month to more than $200. To survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world, Hill still depended on SNAP and Medicaid. But, living as a single mother on a limited income wasn’t easy. She enjoyed working with young people, and appreciated the extra income it provided for her and her 6-year-old son. Every summer, Shonique Hill, 32, would look forward to working her second job as a field supervisor for New York City’s Summer Youth program.
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