(WASHINGTON POST) Emily Badger — Public dependence isn’t a permanent condition, although we often talk about people in need of government aid as if they constitute some kind of fixed class — as if welfare recipients have always needed welfare, as if the families on food stamps today are exactly the same ones on food stamps a decade ago. The reality is that Americans who need government aid, like Americans living below the poverty line, represent a shifting population. A parent who loses his job — and the health care that came with it — may need to rely on Medicaid temporarily. A graduate who can’t find more than part-time work right out of school may need food stamps until she does. That’s not to say that everyone meets this model. But it’s hard to sweep people enrolled in these programs into some category wholly apart from the rest of us — because many who needed help in the past don’t necessarily today or won’t tomorrow. Who’s poor changes with time and circumstance. And their ranks swell and shrink with the health of the economy. This point is clear in a report the Census Bureau just released on who participates in the country’s major means-tested programs: Medicaid, food stamps, housing assistance, welfare and Supplemental Security Income (which is meant to help the elderly and disabled). Census’ Survey of Income and Program Participation tracks people over time, and so it’s possible to see what happens to those enrolled one year in a program a year or two later.

Source: What it really means to rely on food stamps and welfare – The Washington Post