Food Stamps on the Rise

Food Stamps on the Rise

In their article, "Food Stamps Use Soars, and Stigma Fades," authors, Jason DeParle and Robert Gebeloff, claim that food stamp use is at a record high. It has grown so rapidly that more than 36 million Americans are using them. The number is increasing daily during the recent recession that Americans have faced. More and more people are finding it difficult to sustain their basic needs. Among those are single parents, the newly jobless, and welfare recipients whose income is already at, near, or below the federal poverty level, just to name a few.

Many populated counties across the United States, from the Florida Keys to the Alaskan villages, are receiving aid in the form of food stamps. Of those, around forty percent are children under the age of eighteen. However, as helpful as the program may to be, only an estimated two-thirds eligible have taken advantage of this help (2). Most of those are in poverty stricken areas, but there has been an increase in the number of those who live in affluent suburbs that are now receiving food stamps. This growth can be seen in some areas due to unemployment. In the article, the writers state that, "where food stamps were once considered to be a symbol of idleness has risen to more than fifty percent". This leaves a great deal of Americans without adequate access to food (4).

By the time that the recession hit in December of 2007, "The whole message around this

program had changed. The general pitch was, 'This program is here to help you,'" said Stacey

Dean, of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington group that supports the expansion of food stamps (3). However, with the rate of unemployment skyrocketing those

benefits only reaches out to about half of those without jobs, making food stamps the only aid

many Americans can get.

Financed entirely by the federal government, the average family benefit is about $130 per month per family member. Not discriminating against any race, gender, age or ethnicities of the American population, close to twelve percent receive food stamp assistance (3).

Although, some argue that aid discourages work and marriage. For instance, Robert

Rector of the Heritage Foundation is quoted. He states, "Some people like to camouflage this by calling it a nutritional program, but it's really not different from cash welfare" (4). He also states that food stamps should contain work requirements as strict as those placed on cash assistance.

Growth has become equally distributed from places where food stamps use is common to those places where it was previously rare. While the use of food stamps is still the exception in some places, the richest