Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.The number of recipients, who must have near-poverty incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member, has fluctuated over the years with economic conditions, eligibility rules, enlistment drives and disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, which led to a spike in the South.Recent rises in many states seem to result mainly from the economic slowdown, as well as inflation in prices of basic goods that leave more families feeling pinched, officials and experts say.
Citing expected unemployment growth, the Congressional Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 – to 28 million, up from 27.8 million in 2008 and 26.5 million in 2007.
The percentage of Americans receiving food stamps was higher after a recession in the 1990s, but numbers are expected to be higher this year.
Federal benefit costs are projected to rise to $36 billion in the 2009 fiscal year from $34 billion this year.
“People sign up for food stamps when they lose their jobs, or their wages go down because their hours are cut,” said Stacy Dean, director of food stamp policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, who said 14 states saw their rolls hit record numbers by December.
Some states had recent surges. From December 2006 to December 2007, more than 40 states saw recipient numbers rise. In Florida, Arizona, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota and Rhode Island, the one-year growth was 10 percent or more.
Nutrition and poverty experts praise food stamps as a vital safety net that helped eliminate the severe malnutrition seen in the country as recently as the 1960s. But they are concerned about a gradual erosion of their value.
Food stamps are an entitlement program, with eligibility guidelines set by Congress and the federal government paying for benefits while states pay most administrative costs.
Eligibility is determined by a complex formula. Basically, recipients must have incomes below 130 percent of the poverty line, or less than $27,560 for a family of four, and have few assets.
Because they spend a higher share of their income on basics like food and fuel, low-income Americans have been hit hard by soaring gasoline and heating costs and jumps in the prices of staples such as milk, eggs and bread.
Average family incomes of the bottom fifth of the population have been stagnant or declined in recent years at levels around $15,500, said Jared Bernstein, economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Benefits, which can amount to hundreds of dollars for families with several children, are adjusted in June based on a “thrifty food plan” calculated by the Department of Agriculture. Because food prices rose about 5 percent this year, benefits will rise similarly in June – months after cost increases reach consumers.
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