General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: So I'm in line at the grocery store, and the lady in front of me used Food stamps and the guy in [View all]erpowers
(9,350 posts)In my area it is very easy to tell who is using SNAP benefits cards. They look totally different from regular debit cards. I think the federal government needs to make states change the way the card looks or force states to just put the money in a bank account. That way people will get a regular debit card. The federal and stage governments could then decide to either allow people to use the money for anything the choose, or try to work out a way that the bank would know what things a person is not allowed to buy.
I assume the cards look the way they do in the hopes that people will be embarrassed enough to not stay on SNAP benefits too long. There may be a feeling that people fearing the condemnation of their peers may cause them to get off benefits sooner than if their was no chance of their peers criticizing them. It is very possible that a number of the people qualify for SNAP benefits do not apply for them due to shame and fear of their peers. Government officials my fear that if there were no longer shame associated with SNAP benefits more people would try to apply for them.