Food Stamp Usage on the Rise: Another Effect of Recession

As more and more people are feeling the effects of the recession, many are finding the need for government assistance. If you asked these same people two years ago if they would ever need food stamps, many would have scoffed and said never. Now these same people, once part of the working middle-class, now find themselves in the unemployment line and receiving food stamps. The New York Times recently reported that food stamps now feed one in eight people and one out of four children.

What once was viewed as a stigma has now become very common. To ease the stigma, in October of 2008, the food stamp program's name was changed to SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 27.1 million people took part in this program in October, 2007. In August of 2008, the number of people on food stamps was 29.4 million. That number rose to 36.5 million one year later in August, 2009. USA Today says that only 67% of people eligible for food stamps actually receive them.

Who are receiving food stamps? All kinds of people. It's not just people on long term welfare anymore. It is married couples who have lost their jobs and their houses. It is single mothers who now have the added burden of the recession to contend with. It is young people out of college that can't find a job because there are too many people looking for work. It is people who still have a job but their hours have been cut in half and their bills haven't. The USDA reports, "The percentage of households with no cash income of any kind more than doubled. In 1989, 7 percent of SNAP households had zero gross income. This increased to 16 percent in 2008. Similarly, the percentage of SNAP households with zero net income, who received the maximum benefit, rose from 18 percent in 1990 to 33 percent in 2008."

What has the government done to help? In addition to changing the name of the program, the term "food stamps" has been replaced with "nutritional aid," to shift focus on nutrition. Other programs have been instituted. The National School Lunch Program has an average daily participation of 31 million children receiving nutritionally balanced lunches. There has also been an increased effort in reaching the people who are eligible for food stamps. Currently there are 23 states that allow application for SNAP on line. Outreach workers have gone to local schools. To view the eligibility requirements, click here to go to the USDA's website. For your local SNAP office, click here.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-11-02-food-stamps_N.htmhttp://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/