American Economy,  Food Stamps,  Welfare

About 1 in 7 Americans Receive Food Stamps



California is a little less than 1 in 10, but come on now.

Growth in the food stamp program appeared to reach a plateau in February — with 14.3% of the population relying on the safety net program.

The number of food stamp recipients was essentially flat in February, the most recent month available, with 44.2 million Americans receiving benefits, according a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (See a sortable breakdown of the data here.)

The food stamp program ballooned during the recession as workers lost their jobs or saw their hours and income reduced. The rise in recipients has begun to flatten in recent months, which may mean that as the economy is improving fewer Americans are seeking to join the program. Enrollment in the program is still high though, with 11.6% more people tapping benefits in February than the same month a year earlier.

Food stamp numbers aren’t seasonally adjusted though, meaning a variety of factors could influence the monthly tallies and the program could grow again in coming months.

Mississippi and Oregon were among the states with the largest share of the population utilizing food stamps in February: At least one in five residents in each state were receiving benefits.

Wyoming had the lowest rate of recipients with just 6.6% of the state’s residents using food stamps.

The economy is poor, the federal budget is running massive deficits requiring massive debt, and there is high unemployment.

And, Americans cannot feed themselves or their children without help from the government?

What is wrong here?

I would recommend the Congress and the President get busy in paring back regulations, reducing taxes, providing business incentives and helping American companies get a foothold, so they can hire Americans for their jobs, instead of offshoring or relying on illegal immigrants. America needs to manufacture things here again.

This is ridiculous.