logo

Food stamp usage soars despite job growth

image
Author: Chris Hinyub
Created: 07 December, 2011
Updated: 13 October, 2022
2 min read

Fresh off the heels of Bureau of Labor Statistics findings that slightly fewer Americans were jobless in November – reflecting an expected uptick in temporary and seasonal employment, as well as a mass exodus of over 300,000 would-be employees from the job hunt – the U.S. Department of Agriculture is sending conflicting signals about the state of our national economy.  More Americans than ever before are on food stamps, and that number is steadily increasing.

Over 46 million U.S. Citizens have received aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in fiscal year 2011. The latest nationwide food stamp participation data was released Monday by the Agriculture Department. It showed a participation increase of almost 500,000 since August. Officials claim a number of natural disasters, including Hurricane Irene, caused food stamp participation to spike during the closing days of the fiscal year, but a close look at the trend reveals an unmistakable crutch for the supposed economic recovery.

The economic watchdogs at ZeroHedge reported in November that Alabama, Delaware, Utah and Washington were the states most reliant upon food stamp benefits. All showed at least a 3 percent sequential increase in food stamp usage since the beginning of the “recession”. When you add all states, food stamp participation has jumped by 18.7 million over the last 4 years.

The surge in food stamp requests has accordingly prompted the Obama administration to deal with an increase in fraud associated with the SNAP benefits. On Tuesday, the White House announced plans to crack down on program abuses as part of its Campaign to Cut Waste. Officials estimate that each year about $753 million in federal food aid is illegally “trafficked” by merchants and beneficiaries alike. The USDA said it will introduce “severe penalties” for anyone caught fraudulently spending food stamp benefits. In 2010, state agencies investigated 847,000 individual food stamp cases for possible fraud. 5 percent of those were disqualified.

According to the California Department of Social Services, 2.23 million Californians were issued Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards in September – the last month that statistics have been provided. This number is actually down from the 2.25 million issued in August, but it's worth noting that the state reviews food aid cases on a rolling basis with certification periods lasting from 1 month to a full year. Most incumbents in the CalFresh program are routinely re-certified for continued assistance.

The federal government has dispersed $75.3 billion in SNAP benefits to 46.3 million people in 2011. Year-to-year, 6 million more people participated in the program with an additional $7 billion in funding.

Latest articles

votes
Wyoming Purges Nearly 30% of Its Voters from Registration Rolls
It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to r...
27 March, 2024
-
1 min read
ballot box
The Next Big Win in Better Election Reform Could Come Where Voters Least Expect
Idaho isn't a state that gets much attention when people talk about politics in the US. However, this could change in 2024 if Idahoans for Open Primaries and their allies are successful with their proposed initiative....
21 March, 2024
-
3 min read
Courts
Why Do We Accept Partisanship in Judicial Elections?
The AP headline reads, "Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control." This immediately should raise a red flag for voters, and not because of who may benefit but over a question too often ignored....
19 March, 2024
-
9 min read
Nick Troiano
Virtual Discussion: The Primary Solution with Unite America's Nick Troiano
In the latest virtual discussion from Open Primaries, the group's president, John Opdycke, sat down ...
19 March, 2024
-
1 min read
Sinema
Sinema's Exit Could Be Bad News for Democrats -- Here's Why
To many, the 2024 presidential primary has been like the movie Titanic - overly long and ending in a disaster we all saw coming from the start. After months of campaigning and five televised primary debates, Americans are now faced with a rematch between two candidates polling shows a majority of them didn’t want....
19 March, 2024
-
7 min read