SNAP Household Participation FY 2005 - 11,197,377 FY 2006 - 11,734,491 FY 2007 - 11,789,594 FY 2008 - 12,728,981 FY 2009 - 15,232,105 Why did the number of participants increase during the years 2005 - 2007? I ask, because I believe in UK the number of state benefit claimants fell during that period, which you would expect as was a bullish / prosperous time.
Oh...dont forget that there are a certain number of poor people that do not qualify for SNAP who would normally be on SNAP. For instance, in CA if you get SSI you cant get SNAP because CA pays a cost of living adjustment with SSI. SSI normally pays 674 per month. But since CA gives an extra 62 bucks per month, No SNAP for those households. CA has been lowering that cost of living adjustment every year. (Sometimes every few months.) I knew someone who who got SSI and they were getting $742 per month in 2008. Then 2009 came along and there was 5.8% inflation, so they ended up getting $799 per month. A few months later CA reduced their cost of living and they were getting $742 again. Last i heard it was down to $736 as of a few months ago. Not sure if it went down again. Snap would normally be giving them $350-$400 per month in food stamps, but since CA gives them that extra $62, they cant get the free food. I imagine pretty soon, CA will go down to just giving them $1 per month, just so they dont have to give them food stamps.