Work Requirements Will Hurt Latino Families Most

Abstract

Despite the clear benefits of federal programs, congressional Republican leadership and President Trump aim to make it harder for people to stay healthy and keep working. For example, in addition to proposed budget cuts, they enabled states to add work requirements on Medicaid enrollees for the first time in the program's 53-year history. This could cause hardworking Americans to lose access to Medicaid, not because they do not work, but because of the additional administrative burden created by these new work requirements. There are also proposals to add work requirements to federal housing assistance programs, like Housing Choice Vouchers and Public Housing, and make SNAP's existing work requirements even more stringent. The requirements do nothing more than create artificial barriers to these programs, threatening to leave more Latino families sick, hungry, and homeless.