PrintOctober 11, 2010
Graph for the Day for October 11, 2010
"The number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 41.8 million in July as the jobless rate hovered near a 27-year high, the government said. Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases jumped 18 percent from a year earlier and increased 1.4 percent from June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in a statement on its website. Participation has set records for 20 straight months. Unemployment was 9.6 percent in July, near levels last seen in 1983. An average of 43.3 million people, more than an eighth of the population, will get food stamps each month in the year that began Oct. 1, according to White House estimates." -Bloomberg
"Most Americans would like to get a paycheck. Most Americans would not like to be forced to have food stamps handed out by liberal Democrats." -Newt Gingrich
Index of Change in Food Stamps Assistance - 2001 to 2010:Increase in families in poverty: 810 thousand (12%).
Increase in households receiving food stamp assistance: 4.1 million (55%).
Increase in the ratio of food stamp households to poor families: 1.1 to 1.5
Economic Contraction 2007 to 2010:
Increase in families in poverty: 1.9 million (24%).
Increase in households receiving food stamp assistance: 6.5 million (56%).
Increase in the ratio of food stamp households to poor families: 1.5 to 1.9
Data source: U.S. Census Bureau & USDA. Calculations by author
