CHART - Food Stamp Use Jumps To Record 46 Million Americans - 15% Of U.S. Population (1970 To 2011)
Most interesting about the longer term chart (1970-2011) is the fact that the program is hard to escape. Once a family starts on food stamps, the chance of getting off the program is slim.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps in May, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
The number of Americans using the government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) -- more commonly referred to as food stamps -- shot to an all-time high of 45.8 million in May, the USDA reported. That's up 12% from a year ago, and 34% higher than two years ago.
To qualify for food stamps, an individual's income can't exceed $1,174 a month or $14,088 a year -- an amount that is 130% of the national poverty level.
The average food stamp benefit was $133.80 per person and $283.65 per household in May.
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Related stories:
Time Lapse Video - Food Stamps Are The New Normal
WSJ Interactive Map - Food Stamp Use By State
J.P. Morgan's Food Stamp Monopoly: The More Americans That Fall Into Poverty The More Money Jamie Dimon Makes
Aug 9, 2011 at 12:47 AM
Reader Comments (6)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-08/fed-s-d-nathan-sheets-resigns-as-bernanke-s-chief-international-adviser.html
(Reuters) - The Senate Banking committee has begun looking into last week's decision by Standard and Poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, a committee aide told Reuters on Monday.
What nonsense. Rather than blame themselves, they blame s&p.
But seriously, once you create a "dependent" you're in for the long haul.
So much harder to raise up independent, self-reliant and successful children, but so worth the effort.So much easier to give in to the whining, and create dependents for life. They think we are children anyway - but what bad "parents" they turn out to be.