AUGUST 31, 2026

Journalist argues government benefit programs impose a "time tax" on Americans with the greatest need

Atlantic journalist Annie Lowrey has published a new book, "The Time Tax: How the Government Wastes Our Time — and How to Fix It," arguing that administrative burdens in government assistance programs act as effective barriers to receiving benefits. Lowrey contends that programs serving the most vulnerable Americans — including SNAP, SSI, TANF, and WIC — tend to carry the heaviest time burdens. She points to unemployment insurance as a case where paperwork hurdles prevent some eligible recipients from collecting benefits they have paid into.

Annie Lowrey, a journalist with The Atlantic, defines the "time tax" as the cumulative time, effort, and emotional strain required to obtain government benefits or exercise rights — a burden she argues falls disproportionately on lower-income Americans. Her book, published in 2026, uses the term "tax" deliberately, framing the administrative load as something citizens pay in exchange for benefits they are legally entitled to receive.

Lowrey describes several programs as examples. Supplemental Security Income (SSI), used by very low-income seniors with disabilities, requires compliance with an asset test — meaning recipients must document precise bank balances and savings. Lowrey said that for people who are already sick, at risk, or homeless, those programs should be easier to navigate, not harder. She said food assistance "should not be a program for low-income, at-risk Americans who might not be able to eat enough, who are also good at paperwork."

NPR's coverage, which consisted of an author interview, noted that millions of Americans have already been cut from food assistance amid new paperwork requirements and work requirements, with Lowrey stating those numbers are still growing. On unemployment insurance, she described it as a contributory benefit — one workers pay into — but said some eligible recipients fail to collect either because they cannot complete the paperwork or because the state itself cannot process what it receives.