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Carsey Institute
Given what we know about the poverty rate and the current state of the economy, it should come as no surprise that more people are relying on food stamps these days.
But you may be surprised to find who receives food stamps, and where they live.
A new report from the Carsey Institute, which researches vulnerable children, youth and families, finds that 14.6 percent of rural households were relying on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2010.
That’s nearly the same as the percentage of households in inner urban areas who use the food and nutrition program for low-income households, also known as SNAP.
Both urban and rural households have seen SNAP use increase sharply between 2007, when the recession began, and 2010, as the nation struggled with a weak economic recovery.
Suburban households are less likely to receive SNAP benefits, but usage is on the rise. About 9 percent of suburban households received SNAP in 2010, up from 5.4 percent in 2007.
Jessica Bean, a vulnerable families research associate with the Carsey Institute, said she thinks rural residents have traditionally been less likely to collect SNAP benefits because they live in remote areas where it’s hard to access social services and are more concerned with the social stigma.
In a rural area, she said, “When you go into the grocery store and you pull out your food stamps card, everybody knows you.”
Carsey’s research also showed that the program is often helping out working poor families.
About three-fourths of households who receive SNAP benefits have at least one adult in the household who is working, according to Bean. Still, the median household income for SNAP recipients was about $18,000 in 2010, compared to an overall median income of around $50,000.
The average SNAP benefit is about $290 a month.
The program is also disproportionately helping single-parent families. Four in 10 single mothers with children are using the SNAP program, according to Bean’s research, while 1 in four single dads with kids are relying on them.
Just 1 in 10 married couples with children are using the government-funded food benefit.
Related: Hey middle class, tell us about yourselves
Leave a Comment:
"look take the food stamp program and give these ppl along with these students some extreme coupon training.....
problem solved...let them do the work not the taxpayer..."
What a genius of a plan: pretend they're not there!
(re-read the article...those "taxpayers" include 3/4 of the working adults in those households.)
Actually, extreme coupon use, like that recently highlighted on many TV shows, might be attributed to some forms of mental illness, such as hording. It may look like a bargain and really efficient, but it may have an ugly side that is not being portrayed in the media yet.
Go see a shrink.
Most of the available coupons don't provide discounts for items a specific consumer actually buys. Coupons found in weekly circulars mostly advertise little-known or weak-selling items - typically things the average consumer on a tight budget probably won't buy.
Also, if the coupon specifically states that a certain quantity of an item must be purchased in order to receive the discount - most of the actual savings is negated due to the cost of buying too much product. It takes a certain amount of math to be sure you're getting "your money's worth" using coupons in a discount store. Probably why a lot of people simply ignore coupons in general.
It is people like you that are sending this country down the toliet. What a disgrace! How proud you must be that you are "above" those lazy indolent people who rely on help to feed their families. I guess you didn't get that many of those people are working people. Further I guess you haven't read the research from NONPARTISAN groups that say that 42% of American children are living below the poverty level (families of 4 making less than $22,000). You may want to pretent they don't exist but I suggest you go help out at a food pantry and see who is really hurting in this country and why.
I cut out all those coupons for toilet paper, and use them for toilet paper. But don't use the shiney paper coupons. It's like trying to wipe with wax paper.
We shouldn't be so quick to justify and vindicate the rich who are getting richer while the rest of us fall into poverty. Such thought processes and perceptions will ony further the decline and fall of this Nation. It seems that some have yet to even begin to understand what the true problem is that we are facing !
You are also ignoring the folks who in this economy lost their jobs and cannot find work. I know a couple in particular who are nearing the retirement age but still have a few years to go. Nobody seems to want to hire them for what is no fault of their own--he's older... he'll cost too much.... we want our staff to be young and vibrant... we'll get him hired and trained then he'll retire.
it is shameful.
I think your missing the point slick. The suburban folks are starting to use food stamps. Those are the tea party people. They seem to be growing quite a bit now. I don't think you'll see much reforming here; the Republicans know which side of the bread the butter is on. Now old people, single mothers in the inner city and out in rural America that's more a Republican's speed. Those folks don't vote and they don't give contributions so those are the groups the Republicans will zero in on.
There are seldom coupons for the basic foods. They are mostly for the fluff stuff. This would be of no help to impoverished people.
Unless you think buying stuff you don't need helpful.
"look take the food stamp program and give these ppl along with these students some extreme coupon training.....
ppl I've seen using these coupons end up paying very little for groceries....
Government needs OUT OF FOOD STAMP business....period...
problem solved...let them do the work not the taxpayer..."
That's a wonderful idea. Let them use the coupons to buy pantries full of things like maple syrup and ketchup! That will feed them. Hate to tell ya, but these are ppl just like you. Working for little pay and doing every thing they can to make ends meet. Like us for example. My husband worked not less than 80 hrs a week for a company that had him "Salaried". Then he ended up getting crushed by a 55 gallon barrel full of liquid. He needed full time help here at home after that because he was on bed rest 100% of the time. Our country provides for those who need the help. I don't see anything wrong with using the help that our great nation has provided. The one thing I don't agree with is the single men whom are fully capable of working a 40hr/wk job purposefully only working the minimum number of hour a week to qualify for the program just so that they don't have to pay for their own stuff. That's the people who should be not using it. If you want to blame anyone for the SNAP misuse, blame those that abuse the system intentionally! Not those that work hard at full time jobs, or even 3 different jobs, just to make their rent payment! I certainly hope you don't ever end up falling off that Ivory Tower you have put yourself on. Someone like you will be saying the same thing about you.
The Government needs to modify what people are able to spend food stamps on which should only include the basics to be able to make a healthy meal. Steak and seafood should not be included. Unhealthy food should also not be included. I worked for a grocery store as a checker and was appalled with what food stamps could buy! Where is the incentive to get off food stamps if you are able to buy anything you desire but alcohol and tobacco products??
Susan- you must remember that people only get X amount of money on food stamps each month. If they choose to purchase steak and junk food out of this allotted amount then they have less money to spend on other things. They do not get an unlimited amount of dollars to spend! Maybe they are buying potato chips or a steak as a treat, knowing full well that in spending this money, they will have to severely curtail their food for the remainder of the month. Because someone is poor means they should never have a treat?
Yeah right...
Our nation forgot how to cook or grow a garden.
So you believe that children should be allowed to starve?
Enma3, The problem isn't the people who really need food stamps, it's the people who have found a way to scam the system. Government programs are consumed by fraud and a large percentage of the money goes to people who don't deserve it. If you have a limited budget and are interested in feeding your family, you don't "treat" yourself to something extravagant, you buy what you need to survive. I know of more people abusing the system, than I know that actually depend on the system. I would love to believe in people as you do, but my life experiences gives me a different view.
I'm a single mother of two with an ex-husband that doesn't pay his monthly child support and currently owes me over $36,000 in child support. I have a regular job, but I still rely on Food Stamps. I only get $89.00 a month in Food Stamps, that doesn't buy many groceries. Until you have walked a mile in the shoes of someone like me, shut your FU@!ING MOUTH!!!!!
I totally understand your frustration. Too many people don't know your story. I live in a middle class community and have learned that your story is not unique. Further the right wing lunatics of this country have successfully spread the message that anyone needing government assistance is in someway at fault. My grandmother worked well into her 70s cleaning office buildings at night to survive. She had an adult daughter who also worked but still in tough times it was difficult. My mother who had a hard life also, tried to do what she could but my parents would have probably been considered the "working poor". Food stamps would have definitely helped her but she didn't qualify because she owned a rundown small house in an inner city. Perhaps the program does have its flaws but I truly believe that it is a necessary program for all needy Americans.
I would like to ask the so called "Christians" in this country how they could defend those who oppose these programs. Didn't your Jesus tell you: "whatsoever you do to these the least of my brethen, that you do unto me." Guess my Jesus wasn't a republican.
Good luck. I hope things get petter for you. However, I do urge you to make certain your voter registration is up to date. I know it may be hard but get out there and vote those candidates who believe that government has a moral obligation to help its citizens.
Jesus is non-partisan and would say to both sides, "look at yourselves before you look at each other." We need to stop pointing fingers and cussing each other out and help each other out.
Without an education ethic in the US, there will always be welfare and food stamps. If not, there would be mayhem and revolution very quickly.
We are obsessed with education. WE creat new "programs" and new tests to test the new programs. We build state of the art facilities, mostly football stadiums in Texas, but we end up with poorly educated children. When the building looks pretty, it doesn't help when there is not a teacher in it.
But let's just say the education system is top notch in the US, none of it helps without jobs after you get that "educatio ethic".
District Attorney Abel Reyna says 150 to 300 people swiped their Lone Star Cards at Swift P's Pizza in Texas, for cash back - 50 cents on the dollar.
Many bought cigarettes and gasoline or used the money to gamble.
SWAT teams busted the owner of Swift P's on July 29 for holding an illegal gambling place. Phillip Ferguson Haynes is currently being federally prosecuted for the gambling charge and involvement in food stamp fraud.
Not all abuse the program but many do, we need strict guidelines and stiff punishment for the ones abusing the program. If these parents are using the food stamps to gamble, what are their children eating? I don't have a problem giving it to the elderly receiving food stamps, to supplement their incomes.
SNAP should be done away with. Most poor school aged children are on free and reduced lunches at school. In our area, all kids are eligible for a free breakfast at school also. After school programs like the Boys and Girls Club provide dinner at low or no cost. Our Title 1 school system also feeds the kids over the summer. So if these kids are getting 3 squares a day for free, what are the food stamps for? They feed the parents who then breed more children they are unwilling to support. Let the parents go hungry and I'm sure they'll find a way to support themselves pretty quickly.
I love standing in line at the grocery with my cart containing generic staples while the welfare queen in front of me uses her food stamps to buy name brand junk food.... and then pays cash for cigs and beer.
let em eat cake?? one meal a day is enough for "THOSE" kids of "breeding"? Wow. Heil hitler.
I was on food stamps back in the Regan era. I was married and we just could not make the rent and buy everything we needed. Having to choose whether to pay the light bill or pay for food can be a very hard choice, especially for people who do smoke or have other bad habits. I'm sure I spent some money on things that would have been better spent on something else but we desired things like candy and cokes. Bad habits don't go away over night. I make healthier choices today and after investing in a college education I work regularly and pay taxes so I can give back to America what I was given. I am glad to do it . I would rather have my taxes spent on helping others and not spent on wars or something destructive. There are always people who will abuse the system or make poor choices. Education is the key and lets not sterotypy who gets food stamps , ect. I was not on them long and most people actually are not. Look up the statistics on who uses them the most and how long most people are on them. Results might surprise you. Thanks America . You are the greatest.
What about the elderly who rely on Food Stamps to supplement their food budget? They aren't in school getting any meals!
bmwdtd, you should be ashamed of yourself. You don't even really know who depends on these to live.
So they don't need food for the weekend? And what about younger siblings?
I do believe they should require birth control for those on assistance programs, and some reform is needed in the approval process. However, if we're such a great, wealthy country, we should be able to make sure all children get the food they need every day.
Yeah, here we go, the welfare queen who pulls up in her Caddilac to get her welfare check and food stamps. This story started during the Reagan administration and continues to this day. I would imagine FOX News would like to get the scoop on this story, somehow this woman has managed to be elusive now for over 30 years.
Food Stamps - $4 per day. Wow, you can buy two cheeseburgers at McDonalds. The trick is stretching the two cheeseburgers over an entire day. Maybe you can fill up on the ketchup condiments.
Speaking of Ketchup, CEO of Heinz Inc. received $8.5 million in 2010 as a bonus, boy he could sure buy a lot of cheeseburgers.
My first experience with food stamps:
I'm in college. I have my last $20 and I am buying food to try and make it through the next two weeks, hopefully.
I have a small basket of food.
In front of me, a 300 lb. woman with 3 horrid, screeching children who look like they are from different fathers.
Her cart is heaped, HEAPED with junk food, etc.
Her bill is over $300 and she whips out a roll of food stamps so big they look like a soup can, and peels 'em off.
Outside, she gets in a new Ford Taurus. I take my one bag of food and get in my 30 year old car.
That one experience with that obese brood mare jaded me forever. There was no help or assistance for college students - my parents had jobs, you see, and that simple thing meant that they MUST be supporting me, right?
Food stamps. Wow. Shouldn't be allowed to pay for junk food, period.
BMW -- You must be living on another planet. There are no free dinners where I live. No summer programs. No free breakfast at school. My kids don't eat unless I pay for it (I've adopted some troubled kids, not cranking out a zillion kids late in life). There's no subsidy, no government money coming my way. Sure, I see some people with a food stamp card buying mostly name brand. But I see way more people in the same boat that buy generic everything AND clip coupons. The only people I see buying steaks are single men. Times are tough for a whole lotta good people right now. Remember, you could be the next one in the welfare line someday. No one is immune to adversity.
PeteMT, it's too bad that when you were in college they didn't teach you anything about statistics or anecdotal evidence. Your (probably apocryphal) story has no value whatsoever in judging the need to provide food for hungry people. They "looked like they had different fathers"? You obviously didn't learn much about genetics either. Somehow you knew by looking at her that her obesity was her own fault and not caused by an untreated medical condition. So you weren't studying any allied medical fields. Let me guess. You attended a "Christian" university and studied ethics, right? All I can say is you better hope you never find yourself in a situation where, through no fault of your own, you fall on hard times and need help. It could happen you know. Even genius know-it-alls like yourself are getting laid off these days. Guess what? You've wasted all your karma and all your upstanding tea party friends don't believe that you deserve any food, or the dignity to choose what food you buy. Too bad that after all these years you haven't learned to care for your fellow human beings any better than this.
Judge not, lest ye be judged. I always laugh at people who say "America is a Christian nation" and in the same breath say "They follow Jesus." They have NO idea who or what Jesus was about.
Namaste
Ever stood in line and watched a fat person buy a cart full of garbage with food stamps and then pay cash for smokes or booze?
Looks like a no!
I don't believe you pete. I think you're just a bad sport.
pete -- ever known a 90 years old shriveled up woman that ate dog food because it was more nutritious than people food she could afford? It happens.
Garth - well, it did sour me, I'll admit that.
Granny - actually, no, I haven't. I have seen exactly one person use food stamps for 'staples' in my 42 years. While I'm sure it happens, it's the abuse of the system and lack of values of those who abuse it that annoy me.
Reform what food stamps can legally pay for and I'm all for supporting the program. However, when we can see bottled water being purchased by the case only to pour our the contents and collect the deposit money, that's just wrong. As a taxpayer, I shouldn't have to support this type of behavior.
The flaw in the bigoted thinking in some of these comments is that even if you are a working family, sometimes in circumstances as severe as inflation of food, household bills, etc -- a family has to seek assistance. Also, infants can't be included in school age staples like free and reduced school lunches -- and infants by nature are not always planned by young families ( single parents or other wise); it doesn't automatically mean irresponsibility, it just means that for the time being extra help is needed. Not everyone abuses the system. I think the bigots forget this. In my affluent area, there is a rise in educated, formerly upper middle class families and well educated single parents (yet laid off) seeking food and medical help from agencies. Our local church food pantry is reaching out to families and single parents who, two years ago, wouldn't have ever dreamed they were in the position they are in today. People are starving. So to judge those who are in need of food or medical assistance is simply bigoted. I truly hope that people like this, people who judge the working poor and the down-hearten to experience the same fall-outs, the same hard choices. It would serve them right, absolutely.
I keep telling myself that it doesn't pay to argue with a jerk; if someone deep down inside is fundamentally a bad person, arguing with them isn't going to change them. But arguing that doing away with Foodstamps and SNAP is ethically okay just has to have a response. To contemplate that it is an even remotely morally acceptable idea defies belief. And if someone who is on food stamps uses it to buy an occasional treat for themselves...so what?! Just because they may be in a bad stretch in life, you want to kick them when they're down by denying them some meagre little pleasure?! I work 12 hour days out in the oilfield and make darn good money, but I have no problem with having my taxes raised to help out those less fortunate than me. You people railing against food assistance need to learn to be a little nicer. If you're willing to leave someone hungry just so you can have a little more filthy lucre in your hand then you need to stand in front of a mirror and face yourself. If what you see in those greedy little eyes doesn't turn your stomach and prompt you to change your ways, then your soul has already shriveled up like a raisin and the best punishment is to just let you go on being you.
Amen!
It would be nice if they faced themselves in the mirror, but they'll have to face their maker one day.
Thank you. My sentiments exactly. I have been fortunate enough to never require food stamps even though I was laid off in both 2008 and 2010 (got new jobs in a few months.) However, that does not mean everyone is so lucky. Beyond that most people receiving food stamps include at least one working adult. Yes, people abuse the system and there maybe some ways to decrease this abuse. But guess what big corporations abuse government assistance too - let's limit their abuse also. I would rather have my tax dollars going for food than guns - Halliburton made enough off that unnecessary war in Iraq.
HenryBoy, you are a beautiful man.
Baracuda, fully agree, but just wanted to also point out that the amount of money being paid out in corporate welfare and fraud is astronomically more than the cost of any SNAP abuse.
Shows some people are freeloaders and some people are heartless and selfish!
Exactly. The only thing the world needs to really change for the better is the one thing that will never happen: for those who have more than they need to say, "I have enough, and I'm going to help someone less fortunate", AND for those who lack enough to say "Thank you for the offer, but I'm going to pick myself up do it on my own".
We need more people pulling the wagon and less going for a free life-time ride.
Joyce: If you give them a chance, I am sure they would be glad to help pull the wagon. What a dolt.
That is what is NOT happening. (pulling the wagon) We have criminal illegal aliens getting free education, welfare queens dropping baby after baby, 70% of the children being raised in a single parent home and job openings that are beneath them while they are demanding food stamps and more assistance. 47% of the taxfilers pay NO income tax. Do you begin to get the picture?
Whatever happened to self reliance. Years ago we had no food stamps and no welfare and no housing allowances. Did people starve to death? No they got out and hustled. Move in with your parents, live with your grandparents, finish school, do whatever it takes legally to change your circumstances. Don't sit on your b*** and demand money from the taxpayers.
I unloaded boxcars to pay for my eduction and it was hot and sweaty work.
Guess what Joyce a lot of large corporations do not pay taxes either and they use highways, water and sewage systems, etc provided by local, state and federal governments and paid for by taxpayers. So why not rant against them as well. Plus since they are supposedly the job creators they have been doing a piss poor job except in places like China and India while we the 47% who pay taxes help support the infrastructure they use every day here in the US. Personally, I would rather help out families who are having trouble making ends meet than big corporations who have been making record profits and just ship jobs and money overseas. But that's just me. And yes I have worked hard all my life too - never received government assistance. That does not mean I might not need it as some point.
The business where I work does a lot of landscaping. I know it wouldn't look as good as flowers and bushes, but I wish they would plant vegetables and herbs instead. If municipalities put as much money into food crops as they do into landscaping; many people could be fed.
I work in a convenience store so i see what people buy on food stamps.
Nothing but pure junk food anywhere from 10.00 to 50.00 at a time.
They need to do one of two things revamp the foodstamp program to allow staple foods only,meat , bread, milk , etc. or go to a program like wic has where you can only get what is on the voucher they send you.
When i see people getting cans of energy drinks and 6.00 bags of beef jerky on food stamps to me that is just abuse of the system.
I know people that could really use the help and can't get it because at 200.00 to 250.00 a week they make to much, yet people that drive 40,000.00 vehicles and have 300 and 400 dollar cellphones have 800 or 900 left on thier cards. There is something wrong with that picture.
There should be no luxury items allowed on foodstamps at all just basic food staples.
Soda, candy, icees, bagged ice, bottled water, energy drinks anything along those lines should never be allowed.
I believe if that was the case you would see foodstamp use sharply decline.
Yet it was your employer (and others like them) that successfully lobbied to allow those items to be purchased via foodstamps.
What? You thought that DHS came up with that all on their own? Hardly.
Bottled water not allowed?
That's fine until you live in a city where you can't DRINK the water. Come to Waco, TX, try to drink the water and then tell me bottled water shouldn't be allowed. Even faucet mount filters don't take out the taste/smell.
I'm curious. What would think might happen to your job, if I "would see foodstamp use sharply decline?" I know that circa 2005, 12 cents of every dollar of revenue for grocery retailers was in the form of federal food assistance (including what is now called "SNAP" as well as WIC--Women, Infants, and Children.) With the increased use of SNAP since the current depression began, that figure must be approaching 20% by now.
Eliminating the SNAP program would eliminate millions of jobs in the grocery distribution industry. These days, you could argue that the best thing to do would be to eliminate all attempts to prevent fraud, the more the merrier when it comes to stimulating the economy.
Why do I have to buy food for your kids? Where is your Dad?
Let these families go to a soup kitchen for their meals.
Maybe just maybe if these single parent homes were married couple homes we would have less crime and less poverty.
Soup kitchens rely on donations to keep running - something you're not willing to do either.
Bull$hit - there are plenty of two-parent homes that are struggling as well. But, you've had your head under a rock for the past two years so I'm sure you think everyone who's gotten laid off and can't find a job is their own fault.
What does marriage have to do with anything?. Poverty is caused by a lack of adequate employment. Where are the JOBS?
There are plenty of available jobs. It is just that if I can sit home and watch TV, have sex with my lover and get public assistance why do I want to work? You expect me to actually get up in the morning and report for work? You are kidding right?
What does marriage have to do with anything? You are making a joke right?
My point is that with two breadwinners in the family you have a better chance of supporting a family. If a female with children needs financial help then she needs to look for the "father" for assistance. But no, we teach females that they can have babies, never bother to actually "marry" and then turn to the government for help.
Like I said I am tired of having my money stolen by the government to pay for your kids.
I've been waiting for 17 YEARS for my children's "Father" to pay his share. He owes $60,000 in back child support. I wanted to marry him, but he wanted to abandon us. I've had 2 different states (FL and LA) trying to get him to pay, and SupportKids also. Nothing works. I've been out of work for a year, and get foodstamps. Do I buy snacks? You betcha ~ I got 2 teenage boys that are always hungry. I don't smoke, don't drink, don't do drugs.
And there are plenty of women just like me, trying to make it work, trying to provide a HOME for my kids, while their "father" does whatever he wants. Stop putting us all in the same box. BTW ~ when FL start drug testing their welfare recipients, only 2% of them tested positive for drugs. Now FL has to pay millions of dollars back to the welfare people for their tests. Hmmmm......
I am sorry for you current condition but you need to be more aggressive in demanding support from the "father."
Do your teenage boys work and help you with the expenses? Are they in school and getting an education?
To Sarah: You got involved with the wrong man. From what I'm able to see, that is one of the biggest issues today. People (men and women) getting involved with the wrong person. Chances are the father of your children was always a looser. You just chose to ignor the warning signs. Well now we as taxpayers are paying for your poor judgement
I find that hilarious Joyce.
You come down to my house, look me in the eye, and tell me that there are plenty of available jobs. It took me three years to find a position, mainly because where I live there are so many unemployed people trying to compete for the minimum wage jobs just to meet ends.
I am a 20 year old with no children, a full-time student, and also a part-time worker (I've tried getting full-time, but they don't want to hire me for it due to payroll cuts in the company). I work five days a week and go to school the other two. After all of the school bills, I can hardly find the money to pay my $350 rent and still manage to get food on the table (I am even lucky I have a place to live, considering most of the apartments in the worst neighborhoods here in San Diego are $800). My parents cannot help me because they have never been in my life. They both made their mistakes and brought me into this life, not realizing that a child is a huge financial responsibility, so after a few incidents, my grandmother received custody of me when I was nine months old. She is unemployed and can hardly support herself, so I refused to throw my burden on her any longer, hence my decision to move out at 16 years old.
I lived on couches while finishing the last half of high school (I didn't want to be homeless, then that would make attending school so much harder) and starting the first few semesters of college. I have tried getting scholarships and grants but have not received a dime, even though I am a 4.0 student (double-majoring in German and Accounting) who was invited to join the honor society at my school. I even do community service during my free time (but only after studying), and yet California still has no money, cutting teaching positions left and right while raising tuition to ungodly rates. I refused (until recently) student loans, mainly because I never saw the point in incurring debt when I did not make enough to pay them back while in school.
At this point, I am considering food stamps. I do not eat junk food. I only drink water, soy milk (YES I KNOW IT'S EXPENSIVE, but it has a longer shelf life compared to milk, which surprisingly saves me more money than purchasing milk would), and juices once in a while. I try to cook all of my own meals, though groceries are ridiculously expensive so sometimes I just have to suffice with not eating for the day. I live paycheck to paycheck trying to make ends meet for myself. I have tried finding something better, but no luck yet.
Even if I were using food stamps, I would be working my butt off and going to school like there is no tomorrow. For you to assume that every person who is living off of government assistance is sitting at home watching television and having sex with their lover not looking for work is an IGNORANT statement. I do not know if you have ever been unemployed in your life, but after not receiving calls back for so long from employers or them telling you that you have a position secured and then avoid you from that point on is SPIRIT CRUSHING. I cannot tell you how many times that I have heard the whole speech about how "[I am] guaranteed a position because [I am] perfect for the job!" and they never call back again. It is despicable and the constant rejection just makes one give up looking completely. A few of my friends who were constantly searching for jobs and went to school became overwhelmed and committed suicide because they felt hopeless.
You have to look at things in a different light. We are not all lazy, unmotivated people who do not do anything. Some of us actually have jobs but still receive food stamps because minimum wage is pathetic and does not cover the basic expenses needed for survival. There will always be people who abuse the system. They will never go away... but to end a program that keeps the honest, hard-working citizens who depend on it to keep on living is absurd.
sarahk. how about a different father for your boys? 17 years and nothing? had a kid...had another kid then loser #1 split. ok, we get that. ever consider moving on? was this deadbeat the ONLY PERSON WORTH BEING WITH for 2 decades in a row?
at the very least find someone else thats just as understanding of the difficulty of your situation and pool resources. they dont have to be your lover, or even have legal rights over your money...just another adult pitching in helping with kids and bills helps! helps you pay for your own bills, not passing it along for 17 years when you KNOW its dead-end.
also sounds like you cranked a second kid before marriage. first one, you got burned. second one with the same guy? we blame you.
Jazzy,
You are the example of self-motivated personality that so many others lack. I can only hope things get better for you.
Joyce, do you hear yourself? Do you really want to be this cruel? You think that children should be made to go hungry because you don't agree with the values of their parents? I hope I never meet you. People like you make me sad.
Fourty five years ago when I lived in UP Michigan, if you hit a dear on the road, and reported it; the trouper would take it to the nearest school and the kids had fresh meat!
When I was a child my grandmother was on food stamps. At that time each county had like a food shelter/building where people went to pick up beans, rice, potatoes, powdered milk, etc. People were not given free rein to buy whatever they wanted. Mainly because people cannot, or will not, make informed decisions on nutrition so the government should do it for them and go back to the old ways. The problem is is that many people today do not know how to cook for a family or to give their family a balanced meal.
Maybe if everyone had at least a high school education and the females kept their legs together until they are married and actually create a family (male, female, children) unit we could reduce the amount of handouts.
I guess men have no responsibility in your worldview since you keep picking on women. I was raped once but was fortunate that I was on birth control at the time. Do you think the father would have paid for that child? It was in the middle of the day, a perfect stranger with a gun. And I have known many women who got married and expected to stay that way and had children. Then the father left and refused to pay child support. One even moved to Canada to avoid child support in the US. Try spreading the reponsibility equally Joyce. Men can keep it in their pants.
Joyce I was married when I had my two children. I am divorced now because that Bastard decided he wanted a punching bag instead of a wife. I have a high school education as well as a college education. I and a full-time employee, full-time student, and full-time single mother. I still don't have enough money to pay all my bills and keep food on the table. I'm glad that I do get atleast $89.00 a month in food stamps. No, it's not enough to pay for food all month long, but it helps. Just because this wold is full of people that do abuse the system, doesn't mean that we all do. Try living in my shoes, before you go spewing your crap.
Joyce, this is an attack on your prejudice and overall lack of knowledge of the real world.
Before running your mouth and being all prim and proper, Do keep in mind that the rest of us live in a world that isn't as perfect as you think it is. I've seen 4-5 people living together in a 1 bedroom apartment trying to make ends meet. In the area I live a 1 bedroom apartment STARTS at $699 a month. for anyone who is in the poverty range of 20k a year which unfortunately the majority of the jobs out there. income right off the bat, rent is eating up 42% of their income. Any debt, college or children... it goes downhill from there.
In order to qualify for any kind of public assistance you need to pass a drug test. Fail the drug test then no unemployment, no food stamps and no rent assistance.
FL is already doing this - guess what? Everyone on assistance passed the test.
Gotta hate it when your assumptions are proven false.
Did it ever occur to you that the ones on drugs did NOT apply for assistance? I think the message is that the druggies are no longer receiving assistance.
Actually, the law was suspended after only being in place for a couple of months. Also, almost 20% of the applicants refused to take the drug test, whether personal beliefs or knowledge they would fail the test could both be reasons. Sounds like the law ended up being rather invasive and required the applicant to pay for the drug test. I agree with the concept of drug testing welfare recipients, but in my opinion, Florida went a little too far and didn't do it the right way.
Soft drinks and bottled water SHOULLD NOT be on food stamps!! Who makes these decisions anyway?
The manufacturers are the benefactors!
Blame the retailers - their lobbyists are the ones who got such items added.
That's right blame the retailers for lobbying to have their product on the list. Why don't you blame the politician for allowing the product on the list instead of using common sense.
If I'm a manufacturer and make a product, of course I want it to be exposed to the largest market possible. So I pay a lobbying group to advocate on my behalf. If other companies have similar products on the list, of course I want mine on there too.
The responsiblity should lie with the politicians and agencies who allow misuse to go on.
Where's the data for 2008? Did it not make for a nice, clean graph?
I call BUNK!
Food stamps are for some a necessity, but what food is acceptible ought to be outlined. If Obesity is such a huge concern then eliminate chips, cookies, food items with high amounts of corn fructose, pop, and similar food items, etc. Look at some of the drivers of poverty, like "single mothers" who are starting families while in their teens. Pretty much all opportunity for a better life just vanishs. Where is all of the supposed improvement in these numbers from our decades long programs of birth control, sex education ? It appears as if it is time to break the present paradigm of how to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness. When looking at birth announcement lists in the paper 40% do not even list a father, and another 40% that do list a father state there is no marriage between the two. Right off the bat they're behind the eight ball. We need to STOP being politically correct and find answers that work. We owe that to the kids who have not yet made those fatal life choices, so they will have at least a chance at success in life.
Food stamps are a necessary evil and I do believe that some restrictions need to be put in place. It just drives me crazy when I am behind someone and they are swiping there card at a convience store for made to order food and big slurpies. I have a job and do not buy these sandwiches as I think they are way too expensive. For what you pay for one sandwich I can have lunch for a week. My values came from when I was younger and my father died when I was young and my mother (back in 1962 when women really did not work) had to support herself and her 2 children and we did not get any help from the government with food stamps, etc. I learned the value of a dollar back then and we need to teach that to these people because when you are spending other peoples money on food what does it matter what you pay. Using the money to make home-cooked meals that are much more healthy and can stretch out the money further. I do believe it benefits a lot of people but just cut out the usage at the convience stores for pre-made expensive food.
Many years ago when my husband was going to school, we were on food stamps. I would buy candy, soda and chips occasionally. Very occasionally, as we only got a limited amount to spend. If I bought a treat, we had to adjust our other meals to accommodate the treat. Should I have told my children, no, they were too poor to have a treat? Treats are only for children who are better than you?
I would have much rather bought laundry detergent which you can not buy on food stamps. I used the food stamps since our cash was very, very limited. Incidentally, my husband went to school and worked part-time and I worked part-time in the evenings as I could not afford a babysitter during the day.
It was humiliating to have to apply for food stamps and to use them, but I did it so my kids could eat! So, I should have been further humiliated by being subjected to a drug test? So a few people abuse the system, just make all the rest pay for those few? Just got to keep kicking those poor people as much as possible. What happens if you lose your job? Your unemployment runs out or isn't enough to make ends meet? What some posters need is for that to happen and maybe they will open their eyes to the rest of the world and have some compassion and empathy!
Christian nation? Not even close!
It's curious how this caveat was easily "glossed over" in the article:
Going from 5.4% up to 9% in a 3-year period is fairly huge...especially for the typical (or is it stereotypical) suburban communities. That's a 2/3rds increase --- meaning that today there are nearly double the amount of people in suburbia using flood stamps or SNAP then there were in 2007. DOUBLE (2x). This could also indicate that a far more increasing number of people in suburban areas really do need govt assistance.
Though, I'm sure these people don't use their govt assistance in their suburban community; that may cause social stigmas similar to those found in the rural areas. They're buying goods in less fortunate areas were there are more people who use SNAP so they won't be noticed.
It costs about $2.50 per day to feed prisoners and they look very fit. Maybe instead of food stamps we should offer free meals at our prisons to outsiders?
You are hateful. No two ways about it.
I am a health care provider and did an internal study in my office of just over 1000 patients. What I found was that if you are a smoker you are 2X as likely to be poor (on medicaid) than those people that dont smoke. The question that rises is it smoking that makes you poor or is it that if your poor you smoke?
I thought maybe they would show pictures of people using my tax money supported food stamps to buy better cuts of meat than I can afford while peeling off a wad of bills to buy their cigarettes and beer.
I believe the system should be modified. I know a lot of people in my area who are taking advantage of the system. I see people in the grocery stores taking on their new iphone paying with food stamps. I don't qualify for food stamps but i don't have a job, but i do have a bachelors degree and making payments, my husband has a job but he too has a degree. we have over 20,000 in medicals (i had a son) because we had no insurance and didn't qualify for anything. i have a very basic cell phone i with no data or internet. I have an older car. I know other people who could use the help but doesn't qualify. Most of the people i see and/or know/acquainted with takes advantage of the system and will refuse a raise simply because he might loose their food stamps. I don't believe its fair. However, i do understand that there are those who are on it that really needs the help. People who lost their jobs, spouse, on disability and etc. Those who are simply not trying should not get it. I believe the system should interview everyone who wants to on on the program to determine what their motives are and why they need it.
Did it ever occur to you that the person may have bought their phone before being laid off and losing their income? You can't tell just by looking if an iphone is brand new or a year or two old. Not to mention that in order to wage an effective job search, a person needs internet access. I know two people who have no computer and no internet access at home, but use their phones to sit in McDonalds and apply for jobs and send resumes on the restaurant's wifi. It's not easy, but they have to do what they can to find a job.
Don't you realize that they DO interview everyone who applies for any kind of government assistance? It is a very lengthy and humiliating process. Some people are willing to go to any lengths to avoid starving themselves or their children. Have you ever been really hungry? Say, after working out or an exceptionally busy day? Now imagine feeling like that every day. Imagine watching your kids suffer like that. Joyce from up above should try this, too. Maybe it's not too late for her to learn what empathy is.
If you were offered a raise of $50 a month and it meant you would lose $100 a month in SNAP that you needed to feed your kids, what would you do? Some people would decide they were obligated to feed their kids, even if it meant giving up a promotion they desperately wanted.