Ron Jenkins of the Associated Press wrote an article that ran this weekend picking up on OK Policy’s recent blog post examining the puzzle of why TANF cash assistance caseloads have been so slow to rise since the onset of the economic downturn. I’m quoted as wondering whether years of policies aimed at keeping people off TANF have weakened the program to the point where it may not be well-equipped to serve those in genuine need:

Because of low payments, red tape in federal law and state policies, “You may have reached the point where people have stopped treating TANF as something that is available,” Blatt said.

He said there are detrimental consequences if that is the case. “If there is no income, that can lead to homelessness and other kinds of problems that are worse. We think TANF is an important part of the safety net, particularly now that we are seeing this steep rise in joblessness.”

Sunday’s New York Times included an op-ed by Barbara Ehrenreich harshly critical of the TANF program for placing enormous barriers to assistance.  While her conclusions may not all apply to the program in Oklahoma, the article offers some important insights into the puzzle of stagnant caseloads. We are continuing to actively explore these issues along with staff at DHS, and will keep you informed as we learn more.

Sunday’s issue of The Oklahoman featured a compelling report by Paula Burkes on the struggles of several Oklahomans who have unexpectedly found themselves among the ranks of the unemployed, losing long-time jobs and struggling to regain their footing in an extremely unforgiving labor market.  Each of the five profiled unemployed workers are struggling to keep themselves and their families afloat, while hoping that their job prospects improve quickly. In the case of Cindy Mason, who was laid-off four months ago after 29 years working for an Oklahoma City church, the change in circumstance has been abrupt and frightening:

“I’m scared spotless,” Mason, a homeowner, said. Given only two months’ severance, she pulled some money from her retirement account, canceled her YMCA membership and other nonessentials from her budget, is working a temporary job and looking like crazy for employment…

“I don’t want to lose my house, want to pay my bills and keep up my insurance,” she said.

The same day, The New York Times ran an opinion column by Barbara Ehrenreich, the author of the 2001 memoir Nickled and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Ehrenreich revisits some of the low-wage workers and communities she profiled in her book and finds that, while the media has tended to focus on the emergence of the “nouveau poor” among those who were previously affluent before the recent economic collapse, for the “already poor” and the “always poor”, this recession has been especially tough.  She cites data showing that blue-collar unemployment is increasing three times as quickly as white-collar unemployment, which is pushing many people who were already scraping to get by during the good times right off the cliff of financial stability.

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