When Benefits Kick in at Midnight, Groceries Are Bought at 12:01 A.M.

Just because you're eligible for SNAP benefits (food stamps) doesn't mean you get enough to eat. Just because you live paycheck to paycheck doesn't mean each paycheck can be stretched far enough. Need proof? Read or listen to any of the dozen stories about midnight grocery shopping from the past two weeks. Apparently, it just occurred to everyone from National Public Radio to the Associated Press that poor and working class families can't get by on minimum wage, tips and government subsidies.

Midnight shopping is a fairly common occurrence that's self-explanatory: because government benefits are deposited at midnight on the first day of the month, it means poor families — or just parents, while the kids are at home asleep — head out to 24-hour groceries like Walmart at 11 p.m. on the last day of the month. At midnight, people start unloading several hundred dollars worth of food and household supplies like toilet paper to last for the next month. Most families interviewed say they receive a lot less than what they'll actually need to cover a full month's expenses, and it's easy to see why things get desperate at the end of month. By then, shelves are empty and everything is being rationed — even that precious toilet paper.

The pattern has caused giant stories like Walmart to start stocking accordingly. They make sure that more bulk items are available at the beginning of the month, especially formula and diapers and staples like milk, bread and detergent. But the one thing big box stores aren't adjusting is how prices have gone up this year. Largely due to the rise in fuel prices, the cost of milk is up 21 percent and eggs are a staggering 44 percent more expensive.

We know that you simply can't get by on minimum wage. We know that government benefits can only do so much. What's troubling about this pattern is that it's being treated like the new normal. Millions and millions of people living in poverty is not normal. It isn't even OK. While an updated poverty line would only do so much to help, it could get people to understand how serious and widespread poverty is really is. Maybe if we get our federal guidelines in line with how people really live, we'll be less surprised when we read stories about hungry families in the checkout line at midnight.

Photo credit: zoovroo