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"A lot more of my students will be going hungry than previously." Hot Topic 🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Politics The US government shut down at midnight on October 1. On October 22, it became the second-longest shutdown in American history. The last (and longest) government shutdown began in December 2018 under the Trump administration. It lasted 35 days. So, what does a shutdown entail? Federal workers across the nation are going unpaid, and 41 million Americans are at risk of losing their food stamp benefits beginning on November 1. Medicare and Medicaid coverage won't disappear during the shutdown, but people may experience changes in benefits or disruption to their care. Reddit user Electronic-Eye8116 asked, "How is the US gov shutdown personally affecting you, if at all?" Here's how 50 Americans are being impacted: 1. "My husband is furloughed. Our insurance is through his employment; he is unable to work any other job due to a conflict of interest. I found out I had breast cancer in August of this year. I just had a double mastectomy a week ago. I can't work while I'm recovering (I have two drainage tubes as post-surgical care). I don't know when I'll be able to go back to work. I have never asked for assistance before, but I have applied for help with our rent and some utilities. On top of all that, we have two special needs children who are receiving specialized therapy to improve their social, emotional, and behavioral health. Those are additional medical bills on top of everything else. Stressed is putting it mildly." —Professional-Hornet2 BuzzFeed TrendingHot Topic Let's chat about all things Politics See our Politics Discussions 2. "Yesterday, I was laid off from my job of over seven years because of the shutdown. I am going to start walking into doctors' offices tomorrow to see if I can get a 90-day supply of my prescriptions before my health insurance runs out. My dad will be laid off at the end of November if the shutdown continues much longer. I used all my vacation time before getting laid off, so that isn't coming back to me. We were told to use it so we didn't have to take leave without pay. I'm pretty depressed right now, but I'm looking for a new job. I was the sole breadwinner of my household. We are eating a lot of sandwiches and ramen, trying to stretch a buck. The irony is, if the Republicans get their way now, I still don't have a job, AND it will be harder to get healthcare." —darkiya 3. "One of my students just told me they missed class last week because they had to choose between gas and groceries." —spitful_god1 4. "I am a DACA recipient. A recent change has made it so that DACA recipients can't hold a CDL (commercial driver's license), which eliminated one of the means I was considering to make an income. Plus, all things related to my paperwork (that have been in the system since March) are currently on hold, due to said shutdown... So, yeah." —Nkechinyerembi 5. "I am a caregiver to a person with Down syndrome who is permanently and totally disabled. They have not received their SNAP or housing benefits and are relying on the charity of their support group to live. It is just not dignified." —OldLiberalAndProud 6. "First trip to the food bank is this weekend or Monday, maybe. I'm gonna try to donate a few hundred bucks in food, I guess. I'm going to do what I can while I can, BUT I'm also stocking up myself just in case. I'd like 60 days of food available in my pantry, mostly beans, rice, pasta, etc." —erbush1988 7. "I'm working without being paid, so... I know, at some point, I will be paid. It's just a matter of when. Bill collectors don't want to wait for their money. I'm in a very fortunate situation, with some savings and a family that can pick up the slack if things go as far as they seem they might. There are plenty of people I work with who are in a way worse situation than I am. Just remember, not all federal workers are suit-wearing millionaires sitting in an office in DC." —KingDAW247 8. "I work at a Title I school where over 70% of kids are below the poverty line. The number of kids who are going to be coming to school hungry if SNAP doesn't get funded is going to hurt. There's no way to learn if your basic needs aren't being met." —Impressive_Garage_35 9. "I work in the emergency room and emergency services. I'm expecting the loss of SNAP to cause our census to rise, especially with our unhoused, who, due to no other resources, may use SNAP for trade with their addictions. Bluntly: If it goes three full days, day four will be a shit show." —Conscious-Sock2777 10. "If the ACA subsidies don't come back, I will definitely not have health insurance, and it looks like my wife won't either. I know the shutdown sucks for a lot of you, but if the Dems cave yet again, a lot of us are totally fucked. My wife has a few chronic conditions, and her meds will be roughly the same amount as our fucking mortgage. We can't afford that, so I guess we just die. Fuck the GOP. Fuck Trump." —Boredum_Allergy 11. "My wife works for the government. She got pregnant one week before the election. DOGE was fun. Made it through, though. She was due back from maternity leave on the day of the shutdown, which is good timing because we are closing on our dream home for the new baby soon. Unless the government reopens in time, we won't get the mortgage and will lose the home. So yeah, it's been great." —mxalex229 12. "I'm an air traffic controller. At the moment, I'm sweating things because my current budget is starting to thin with shit like my mortgage and my credit card bills. I'm not living lavishly, as Duffy says; I'm barely clearing $100k each year before taxes. My furnace has shit the bed and I've paid $500 for the company to tell me another part is on order and it'll be another $95 plus parts to fix it. Meanwhile, one-third of my government won't swear in an elected representative because she will bring to light who is in the Epstein Files. I'm tired and tired of training the next generation of air traffic controllers who are too lazy to study basic shit. I'm tired and I want off this ride, boss." —PlumbusSchleem4122 13. "My cousin will have no way to feed her children next month. Ahe offhandedly made a dark joke about sex work to make ends meet, and she laughed it off, but I don't think it was entirely a joke by the way her eyes looked." —TheSilentTitan 14. "I have no SNAP for groceries, I'm waiting on Social Security for the disability process to continue, and I'm highly worried that the new rules and cuts for Medicaid might remove me from it before I can get approved for disability. Slightly adjacent, my sister is a disabled Navy vet and isn't getting child support from my nephew's active Navy father because of the shutdown. My nephew is 5, and kids go through clothing sizes so fast, it's unreal. It's about time to buy winter clothes. I'm trying to contribute what I can because I love my nephew, but I'm also trying not to starve myself. It's a challenge. I already don't go out or spend money on anything I don't strictly need. I'm just living on goodwill from family and some very kind strangers, as well as assistance programs, and keeping the things I have in good working order (clothes, electronics, etc.) so I don't need to buy anything." "Not having SNAP is extremely rough, though. I'll have to choose between food and hygiene. I'm just glad I have a place to live and am not currently in danger of losing that." —sachimi21 15. "I couldn't get one of my medications for my heart." —drgnbttrfly 16. "Even if I do get my food stamps this month, they've been cut in half. My income hasn't changed. I already struggle to feed my kids. Two full-time jobs. Is it great yet?" —msbrooklyn 17. "Well, my insurance is over 400% higher, the early education costs for my kiddos also went up because they cut all funding for that, and my employer has over 50 projects with the US government on pause right now. Not really sure how much more he can fuck up." —Moron-Whisperer 18. "I teach in an area where at least 80% of the kids are on free and reduced lunch, and their at-home meals come from food stamps. A lot more of my students will be going hungry than previously. It's not good." —dshaw1599 19. "I live in Section 8 housing and depend on SNAP and Medicaid. I lost Medicaid for three months because I had 'too many assets', which, going three months without insurance, wiped out my extra income, so now I'm on Medicaid again. I need to have surgery ASAP because of all that's going on, but it would be better to wait for my body to heal from the last surgery. Yet, if I lose insurance and don't have the surgery, I could lose an appendage. If I lose my housing, I will be homeless, starving, fully disabled, and no doubt, will succumb to the intrusive thoughts." —PhantomPharts 20. "My mom has lost her food stamps for the foreseeable future, and her Medicare has lost some benefits like telemedicine. She had spine surgery and can't walk, so they're forcing her into the doctor's office because Trump ended telemedicine." —HollywoodSmollywood 21. "My mom's food stamps are being cut off. She's retired and not sure what's going to happen with her benefits. I'm going to donate plasma so I can send her some money." —Spaced-out-ET 22. "I work in community mental health, and pretty much every single client I work with is screwed. Absolutely screwed. Whether it's the EBT thing or the upcoming Medicaid shit, we are all screwed. My job is at risk if Medicaid is cut. I live paycheck to paycheck and don't qualify for SNAP, which is fine, but with SNAP frozen, the grocery prices are going to get worse. This is feeling very hopeless from my perspective, as someone who works with those who need social services. All of these people need help." —Kind-Sheep 23. "My husband works a government job. He has to show up to work, he's not getting paid, AND because of the hiring freeze, they're so understaffed that he's being mandated to work 16-hour shifts. He works about three to four 16-hour shifts a week. I'm home with our three kids. It's not been fun for any of us." —Shenism 24. "My prescription costs have risen by 400%. I'm on like, nine different things." —LewisWhatsHisName 25. "I can't afford to buy food. Literally. I, 61, female, am partially disabled and work part-time. I collect a reduced Social Security check. Approximately $300/month. I was just approved for food stamps, but I have no idea when I'll actually get them. I had to ask my dad to buy me food. It was embarrassing. My lunch and dinner are what I call one-pot delights. I take a protein, such as chicken or ground beef, long-cooked rice, black beans, a green vegetable, and chopped tomatoes from a can. Sometimes I add corn if I have a couple extra bucks. A pot of that lasts a week and costs a little over $2.00 a serving. I have eaten that for two meals a day for the past five weeks. I broke down and bought a dozen eggs to go with the corned beef hash my stepmother sent me. That's tomorrow's meals. She sends me dry goods as gifts for holiday days, and it comes in handy." "If my dad and stepmom (they aren't married) didn't help me with food, I'd be losing weight by now. I'll eat. I can still go to food banks. I feel bad for the federal workers who aren't getting paid at all. They have entire families to feed and mortgages to pay. This is awful." —DelightfulHelper9204 26. "I won't get food stamps next month unless something happens." —Aggressive_Excuse159 27. "I work at a nonprofit serving people as they get out of prison. All of our guys are very afraid of what they might do next week or the week after. We're connecting them with all the area food banks (which many of them already use), but I know they're going to be SWAMPED too. The cascading effect will be increased stress, fear, and panic. And thus crime, violence, drug use, etc. Yet again, America is failing to care about or address poverty, which creates many, many of its other problems." —TheLostPariah 28. "A bit worried! I have Crohn's, and without my SNAP benefits next month, I really don't know if I'll be able to get food from food banks that can be within my diet. Eat food that destroys my stomach and end up in the hospital, or eat nothing at all. What great choices!" —rabbiteggz 29. "I'm about to miss my second paycheck! Got a partial one. Despite some sentiment, not all feds make great money. My spouse got sick last year and basically drained our savings as he had no money coming in, but hey…keep working without a check, bills due, and so many creditors refuse to work with feds this time around! It's frustrating, but I'm still better off than some! I would have been shopping for my church's food bank, but I need to make sure we have enough food." —Out_of_Darkness_mc 30. "The job market is fucking garbage because no industry is currently stable." —igotshadowbaned 31. "It's not affecting me at all. And yet, I am so fucking angry. It should not be affecting ANYONE. I'm trying to organize help for our food banks to support our local military personnel who aren't being paid. I'm trying to do anything I can to help my community, my family, my friends, my coworkers BECAUSE I CAN. BECAUSE IF YOU CAN YOU FUCKING SHOULD. WE ALL SHOULD. We are all on the same team, yo. NONE of us are rich enough to matter to our government. Let's be real here. NO ONE IN THIS COUNTRY SHOULD EVER BE HUNGRY. Revolution is only eight missed meals away." —upeepsareamazballz 32. "I have four friends about to lose access to food." —KenUsimi 33. "I work in human services — food insecurity, to be precise. We're sweating, and I don't think we are even close to prepared to handle the massive uptick to come at our meal sites in a couple of days." —pokamoe 34. "I was about to land a new job. The shutdown came in, and now, no new job." —h1r0ll3r 35. "I work in the medical field. We are starting to have issues with Medicaid. Our patients are randomly losing benefits." —killpapyrus 36. "I can't work because I take care of my wife, who is on disability. This has the potential to be devastating fairly soon for me." —dohrk 37. "My food stamps have been cut for my entire family, and my financial aid is in trouble for university. I've been trying to work extra shifts to make up for the money loss, and we have enough canned and boxed food in the pantry to last us a little while without too much trouble. But even then, it's still tough keeping this up with school going on. Despite this, I have been volunteering at my local food bank, helping with donations and distribution. I know others have it worse, and we need to help each other now more than ever since our government won't do it for us." —Sarah_idk 38. "This is itty-bitty, but I'm doing research that is, in part, held in National Archives collections. So, I don't have access to that." —FrancoManiac 39. "I've upped my monetary donations to my local food bank. It's a crying shame that our country, the so-called (okay, self-proclaimed) 'best in the world', would let anyone go hungry. I'm so furious." —lilmimosa 40. "I work for a company that sells snacks/beverages. Sales are down. October is usually a very good month for us, but this year is definitely down from last year. At my fill locations, I have seen fewer employees, and one of the two who has government contracted work is on reduced hours." —RamAir17 41. "I got laid off due to contract issues, and my husband is currently working without pay. We have some savings, but suddenly going to zero income without much warning is hard." —darbspott 42. "My son's therapist called to cancel all our appointments because 80% of their clientele is funded via a government program, and because of the shutdown, nobody is processing the insurance. My Medicaid was cancelled because they requested information, and since nobody bothered to process the paperwork I sent, my application was denied as of January. So, yeah." —JstytheMonk 43. "I'm disabled and on government assistance. I have enough food money saved for one or two months, then I have to dip into my monthly cash from SSI of $847 for everything. I will probably have to opt out of paying for a life-changing medication. I could lose my Section 8 housing if my landlord doesn't renew his contract with the housing authority. But if Democrats aren't successful in pushing back against the crap Republicans are pulling, I won't have medical insurance, and I'll start dying a slow, painful death. And much, much worse will happen." —stuffin_fluff 44. "My husband is a fed, so he's furloughed and not being paid. We don't truly know if he will have a job to go back to or if he will receive back pay (according to Trump's threats). I work for a not-for-profit that supports government, and my company just went through its fourth round of layoffs. Many of my friends lost their jobs. I will likely be furloughed soon with no pay or back pay, and there is a high risk of being laid off. So we're extremely stressed because we live in DC, which has a high cost of living." —bag_of_goldfish 45. "I'm not getting groceries in November." —Critical_Mass_1887 46. "I'm not getting paid even though I am working. I make just enough to cover my expenses; I do NOT make enough to have the kind of savings to cover an indefinite shutdown. I am using a relief program offered by my bank, but for some reason, they refuse to front the entire amount of my usual paycheck, so I'm about $800 short for the month. Additionally, my health insurance premiums are not getting paid, so I expect to be slapped with a bill for that or to lose coverage altogether. Mentally, I'm sick of seeing federal workers' livelihoods being used as a political bargaining chip. I'm sick of people who are getting paid to do much easier jobs than mine slandering us for wanting to get paid to work. No one in my field is lazy. We've been burnt out for decades, and this is too much." —NemoHobbits 47. "I work as a behavioral health social worker in the Midwest. Many of my clients are already juggling jobs, family stuff, and their mental health treatment. Now they have to add 'trying to find enough food to feed my family' to the list. We're connecting clients to food banks and churches, but honestly? There was barely enough help to go around before SNAP got cut. I've been a social worker for almost a decade, and this is probably the most stressed I've been. It's fucking tough to watch people work so hard and still not be able to make ends meet. It's impossible to expect people to prioritize their mental health when they aren't having their basic needs met." —edenaxela1436 48. "Not me, but my sister. She is a state worker who does SNAP benefits. She is furloughed starting Monday for a month or until the shutdown is over. They are unsure if they will receive back pay when they go back, but will still be responsible for paying November's insurance premium in December. She has minimal savings, so that will go quickly. Her plan is to survive on credit cards and casseroles until she can go back to work. Other people in her office are putting in their retirement paperwork or just outright quitting so they can find something more stable. Meanwhile, the important work they do is going undone, and our most vulnerable are not receiving food assistance." —cakethrower 49. "I'm a federal contractor and haven't worked since October 16. I'll receive a partial paycheck on November 7, but the money is from the rest of my PTO we were basically forced to use. I won't get any back pay." —Potential-Taste-8563 50. And: "Aside from knowing that millions are in danger of starvation? I'm frustrated that the Republicans planned and executed it. I'm further discouraged that the administration has broken the law multiple times in response to it, and angry that MAGAs don't care about that." —jcooli09 Are we great yet? If you or a loved one are feeling the effects of the government shutdown and would like to share, you're invited to do so in the comments or through this anonymous form. The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-800-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
