from The Epoch Times:
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has unexpectedly taken center stage in debates over the federal government shutdown.
Since funding for the program, formerly known as Food Stamps, ran out in October, Congress, President Donald Trump, and the federal courts have wrestled with what to do about feeding millions of Americans who depend on this benefit each month.
SNAP has grown in size and cost since its inception in 1964, as have many other social welfare programs.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
Participation
Participation in SNAP has grown dramatically over the past 50 years.
About 2 percent of Americans received SNAP benefits in 1970, according to data from the Department of Agriculture (USDA). Today, about 13 percent of Americans receive SNAP benefits, some 42 million people.
That is a 650 percent increase in the number of Americans who are unable to provide adequate food for themselves.
Participation spiked by 69 percent between 2008 and 2013, reaching a high of more than 45 million monthly recipients, largely because of the nationwide recession, according to the USDA. Between 2007 and 2009, national unemployment averaged 9.3 percent, and nearly 15 percent of Americans lived in poverty.
Participation rates vary. New Mexico is the state with the highest participation rate, at 21.2 percent of the population, and Utah has the lowest rate, at 4.8 percent.
The participation rate for many states mirrors their poverty rate. Some states have exceptionally high or low rates of SNAP participation compared with the rate of poverty.
Outliers on the high side are Arkansas, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Wyoming.
On the low side, Georgia’s SNAP participation rate is 12.5 percent, while its poverty rate is 12.6 percent.
