<p>I’m just wondering. I have a relative that has a family income somewhere between $50,000 and $70,000 a year, yet somehow seems to qualify for government subsidized child raising (free lunches & breakfast, subsidized medical care, etc, etc). Is this possible unless the parents were accidently writing down the wrong income on application forms?</p>
<p>Here are the 2012 Federal Poverty guidelines.</p>
<p>[2012</a> HHS Poverty Guidelines](<a href=“http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/12poverty.shtml]2012”>2012 HHS Poverty Guidelines | ASPE)</p>
<p>I believe the free lunch program is based on national guidelines, not local ones, so unless this is an extremely large family, they shouldn’t qualify for that. <a href=“http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/notices/iegs/IEGs11-12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/governance/notices/iegs/IEGs11-12.pdf</a></p>
<p>As for the medical care, that depends on the state. In Michigan, they wouldn’t qualify for any plans I know of. Other states could vary. </p>
<p>Fwiw, $50k is solidly middle class in my area.</p>
<p>In New York, people with income higher than that qualify for subsidized medical insurance. It’s over $80,000 for certain plans here.</p>
<p>Every child gets free breakfast in NYC, also, and subsidized transportation is based on distance from home to school. Additionally, in the summer, anyone can avail herself of free breakfast and lunch served in public schools. There are no income requirements at all and even adults qualify. So you’d have to know exactly what the person was getting and how the programs are structured.</p>
<p>We had (here in PA) a welfare medical card for S2 for about 18 months, because he qualified under a chronic life-threatening illness clause and his meds/tests ran about $2200 a month. Our income of 85K was not a factor in qualifying, but it was (for us) a factor in applying at the urging of his doctors. We gave up the card when his meds, for several reasons, came into the more reasonable range of about $250/month. </p>
<p>Where we lived in NJ, and where we live now, 50K is not gonna do much more than groceries and a tiny house (and in NJ, not even the house).</p>
<p>Home ownership would be out of the question and rent would be very difficult in this or nearby towns. I would think it would be considered poor.</p>
<p>Is this person married?</p>
<p>In Westchester and Putnam counties in New York, it would be difficult to rent a home and very unlikely to own one with 50k a year.</p>
<p>50k will not get you much,if anything…not sure I would use poverty level,but it is close</p>
<p>Where I live (suburb of NYC), depending on number of kids, they could qualify for a number of programs. I dont think free lunch though. Absent Section 8 or other subisidized housing (which they would qualify for, but aviailability tough), they would likely have a very tough time getting by.</p>
<p>$50,000 per year is very close to the median household income in the US.</p>
<p>UCB, but there are huggge regional variations. My mom lives in a middle class suburb of Atlanta, and yes a family of 2 can live there very nicely for 50K. Family of 4, can live OK. Not the same where I live.</p>
<p>I resent that high cola areas pay more federal areas, yet our working poor are not treated as well by food stamps.</p>
<p>Ucbalumnus, the median home price in US is about 165k, and you couldn’t buy a vacant lot for that in most of the NY/NJ area…</p>
<p>Where I live in NJ, $50,000 would certainly not go far for a family of 3. Home ownership would be completely out of the question (even for an inherited home) as taxes alone would simply be too high on that income. </p>
<p>That said, I can’t answer your question.</p>
<p>Well, in HI, it seems like you need 4 people to get foodstamps for a family making $50,000. That said, our cost of living rivals nearly any state. About 1/2 the kids at our public schools get free or reduced lunch because of the low household incomes.</p>
<p>[Hawaii</a> to Give Food Stamps to Families of 4 Making $50,000 | Change.org News](<a href=“http://news.change.org/stories/hawaii-to-give-food-stamps-to-families-of-4-making-50000]Hawaii”>http://news.change.org/stories/hawaii-to-give-food-stamps-to-families-of-4-making-50000)</p>
<p>Here are the federal guidelines for free & reduced lunches:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs11-12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs11-12.pdf</a></p>
<p>These are well below $50-70,000 for a family of 3 (see 2nd page of link for table).</p>
<p>Yes, they are married. Husband, wife, son.</p>
<p>It sounds like if they were on the east coast, they’d have a reasonable argument due to cost of living. I don’t know much about the east coast, but have always heard it’s expensive out there. </p>
<p>But it doesn’t sound like $50k a year is “poor” for the majority of the country.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t know how much verification goes into those apps for free/reduced breakfast/lunch, but once you qualify, you can get some other bennies as well.</p>
<p>And, do the income limits include “adding back in” any 401k and/or any pre-tax health savings accts, etc? Perhaps the family is listing its income as the amount after 401k deductions and such?</p>
<p>Is there much verification for these meal deals? or is it mostly the honor system?</p>
<p>There is NO variation. Free/reduced lunch is a federally subsized means tested program. The criteria are the same regardless of where you reside.</p>
<p>Why is this a concern to the OP?</p>
<p>The federal guidelines for free & reduced lunches are posted above. Don’t know how stringent verification is and whether there is oversight to prevent misuse/abuse. It is a drain on us taxpayers when folks take advantage of the system. Don’t know whether there is a “hotline” to call in for suspicion of inappropriate benefits either.</p>
<p>But breakfast isn’t, thumper, and neither is lunch when school is out of session. So if someone is utilizing those resources, means testing doesn’t come into play.</p>