While the Republicans in Congress want to cut the food stamp program (now called the SNAP program), the sad fact is that the need for this food assistance program continues to grow in our troubled economy. Their are currently a record number of participants in the program -- about 47,692,896 Americans. These people compose about 23,087,886 households (an increase of 889,154 households over January of 2012, or about a 4% increase). That represents about 20% of all the households in this country (or about 1 out of every 5 households).The Republicans want us to believe that these people are just lazy, and could be working instead of receiving food stamps. In light of our poor economy and high unemployment, that is a silly accusation. Millions of people would love to work, and millions more are already working but don't make enough money to support their families. In addition, about 68% of all food stamp recipients are children/elderly/disabled and cannot work. Of the remaining 32%, 13% are employed while only 19% are unemployed (which seems like a remarkably small number in this jobless economy).
The bottom two of the charts above shows another very disturbing trend in food stamp need. It seems that poverty (and therefore the need for food stamps) is no longer just an inner city problem. There was a time in this country when the suburbs contained only a growing and healthy middle class, but that has changed. Now poverty and need is rapidly growing in those suburbs, as jobs disappear and the middle class shrinks.
In the largest 95 metropolitan areas in 2007, the number of people needing food stamps was about equal for the urban and suburban areas. But in the years between 2007 and 2011, while urban food stamp need grew by 69.1% the suburban food stamp need doubled (growing by 100.9%). Now the suburbs has about 55% of food stamp need to the urban need of 45%. To be blunt, there is no area of our society (except for the rich) which has not been affected by the recession and lingering poor economy, and the hardest-hit area is the one thought once to be immune to poverty -- the suburbs.
The truth is that most, if not all, of the people on food stamps would much rather not need them. But as long as there are no jobs for those able to work, or the work available only pays at or near minimum wage, there is going to be a huge need for the program. I would love to see the number needing food stamps to drop, and the money needed for the program to lessen -- but the answer is not to just cut funding for the program, forcing people to try to subsist without any help.
There are things that could be done -- raising the minimum wage to a livable wage, strengthen unions, stop job outsourcing to other countries, increase revenues by raising taxes on the rich & making corporations pay their taxes, and create a jobs program in this country (and a good start on this would be a program to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure). Unfortunately, the Republicans oppose every one of these things. That is why they must be voted out of office in 2014 -- so we can get the economy moving again (and reduce the need for food stamps).
