The US Department of Agriculture is reporting that over 36 million Americans currently receive food stamp benefits. The number was reached in August, but in reality the headline is not new. As Reuters reports, this is the eight month in a row that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, the legal name of the food stamp program) enrollment set a new record high.Reuters is reporting that at the current rate of growth in the program, “an estimated one in eight Americans receive[s] benefits.” Participation increased by two million from May to August. Since January, and during the ongoing economic turmoil, an additional 4.707 million recipients are now receiving benefits. The SNAP benefits help individuals and families below a certain economic threshold purchase food. The average person received a benefit of $132.99 in August, while in August 2008 this number was $101.31.
Meanwhile, Liz Szabo of USA Today has a story on the publication’s website that reports a recent study published in the “Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine,” finds that half of American children will “live in households receiving food stamps before age 20 [.]”
Author Mark Rank of Washington University in St. Louis says one in five children “rely on food stamps for years, many more live in families who turn to food stamps during a short-term crisis [.]” Rank has study 30 years worth of data from the University of Michigan’s Panel Study of Income Dynamics survey.
"This is what children can expect over a period of time, not just during a recession," Rank says. "It shows that the period of childhood, rather than a period of safety and security, is really a time, for a lot of kids, of economic turmoil and risk." Rank says his study, the first of its kind, may underestimate how many families struggle with grocery bills. Only about 67% of people who are eligible for food stamps actually receive them, the Department of Agriculture says.”USA Today reports that Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation “says the study design and survey data are solid. But he says the findings are neither surprising nor troubling.” ‘"That's effectively like saying that at some point in a 20-year period, a parent would be unemployed for a month or so,’ Rector says.”
To read the Reuters report click here.
To read the USA Today article on the food stamp study and children, click here.
Posted: 11/04/09
