Disadvantaged in U.S. Still Need Benefits Set to Expire

Lawmakers are using the improving economy as an excuse to let a key benefit for disadvantaged people during the pandemic expire later this month, says Johns Hopkins University economist Robert A. Moffitt, who studies the social safety net in the United States.

The emergency allotment program, which provided Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients extra financial assistance, is set to expire on Feb. 28. The program offered recipients an extra $95 per month or benefits up to the maximum amount for their household size, whichever amount was greater.

“The expiration of emergency allotment benefits is being justified by improvements in the economy, which assumes that families will have a greater ability to find a job and get income that way,” said Moffitt. “The people that are likely to be most disadvantaged by these extra benefits expiring are those who don’t work, such as senior citizens, and others who have difficulties working or finding a job even in good economic times.”

Moffitt is the Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Economics in Johns Hopkins Department of Economics.