Living paycheck to paycheck is tough, but it is increasingly the situation for families in Denver and across Colorado. In fact, more than one-third of families in the United States would not be able to cover a $400 emergency, and nearly half have no emergency savings at all. This means that many families are one paycheck away from disaster.<\/p>\n
As a social worker and researcher, I\u2019ve met many families like this, some of whom have landed in shelters because a single small crisis caused the economic dominoes to fall. Imagine a mom with two kids, aged 8 and 11. She\u2019s a solo parent after losing her husband to COVID and works as a shift manager at a local coffee shop, earning just enough to pay rent and put food on the table. But then her youngest catches the flu. Soon, it spreads to her other child and eventually to her. She quickly maxes out her sick days and loses her job.<\/p>\n
In the United States, our social safety net exists just for times like this. Without affordable child care, this mom can only work part-time and relies on public benefits to fill the gaps: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps her feed her kids and Medicaid ensures they have access to health care. At tax time, she expects to bring in enough through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to put down a deposit on a new apartment and get her kids back into stable housing.<\/p>\n
These public benefits are a lifeline for families like hers, ensuring that parents who fall on hard times can meet their kids\u2019 basic needs while they get back on their feet. But the cuts in the reckless budget bill working its way through Congress would slash these critical programs — hurting our most vulnerable while straining state budgets to the breaking point. Here in Colorado, it is estimated that the state will lose as much as $259 million in federal funding for SNAP if the bill becomes law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cutting SNAP will mean more children go hungry. It also sucks millions of dollars away from\u00a0grocery stores, with ripple effects that will impact Colorado ranches and farms, the trucking industry, and our entire food supply chain. As a result, people will lose their jobs.<\/p>\n SNAP isn\u2019t the only program in the crosshairs. The bill also proposes to make the EITC even more difficult to claim and would limit eligibility to families with kids under age 7, which means that more Colorado families will miss out. This refundable tax credit can be the difference between putting a deposit down on an apartment or sleeping in a car; paying for child care so a parent can work or missing out on those work opportunities; paying off the overdue electric bill or praying that the power isn\u2019t cut.<\/p>\n And, of course, Medicaid is on the chopping block as well. First,\u00a0new administrative rules\u00a0would mean many eligible families will lose coverage simply due to new, onerous paperwork requirements. Second, federal contributions to state Medicaid programs will shrink, meaning states like Colorado will need to cut other programs to maintain Medicaid coverage, or will have to increase the number of uninsured people in the state. The loss of federal matching funds will cause\u00a0rural hospitals\u00a0and\u00a0nursing homes\u00a0to close, leaving these communities with less access to essential services and increasing their unemployment.<\/p>\n