U.S. Food-Stamp Recipients Reach Record 35.1 Million

And everyone is yelling that the recession has ended, wow I feel sorry for anyone who believes that one. Recession is farrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from over. Another 10+ years we have.




U.S. Food-Stamp Recipients Reach Record 35.1 Million
By Alan Bjerga

Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A record 35.1 million people received food stamps in June as unemployment reached a 26-year high, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The 22 percent increase from a year earlier marked the seventh straight month of record participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The monthly total was 2.1 percent higher than May, the USDA said today in a statement on its Web site. Spending on benefits also reached a monthly record at $4.68 billion, 1.7 percent more May.

The government has boosted food aid in response to a jobless rate that reached 9.5 percent in June, the highest since 1983, before dropping to 9.4 percent in July. The Labor Department will release its jobs report for August on Sept. 4. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News project the rate to return to 9.5 percent.

Unemployment alone isn’t driving the growth, “it’s also the low wages” earned by people working fewer hours or whose pay has been cut, said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a Washington, D.C.-based anti- hunger organization. “Even if unemployment stabilizes, we’ll see growth in caseloads for the next several months.”

Utah, Nevada

Utah had the biggest increase in food-stamp participation, surging 46 percent from a year earlier, followed by Nevada and the state of Washington at 45 percent, according to the report. Every state posted a gain from a year earlier and from May.

Texas had the most recipients at 2.94 million, followed by California with 2.8 million and New York with 2.43 million, the USDA said.

The average monthly benefit for an individual fell 0.4 percent to $133.12 from June’s record to the lowest level since March, according to the USDA. For a household of four the amount fell 0.5 percent to $293.82. Benefits were raised in April because of funding provided in the $787 billion stimulus bill Congress passed in February.

About 35 million people are expected to receive food stamps each month in the year that begins Oct. 1, according to the budget that President Barack Obama sent to Congress in May.

 

how do i get on the list of happy recipients?

I'm not getting enough of the dole, no unemployment, no stamps, nothing.

this is bullshit

 

wow. 1 in 9 basically.

Soon, it'll be 1 in 8...or even 1 in 7...

Funny though the average keeps trickling down. Keep putting them on, even though they may not get as much! Spread the wealth!

$133.12/person on average

= $33.28/week

= $4.75/day

Can you feasibly, consistently, "eat well" on $4.75/day if you didn't have much else coming in for food...or income?

I wouldn't even bother trying to "get on the list" for this...probably more work to get it then what you DO get!