FRAC: Press Release - June 2009 - Food Stamp Participation Hits New High

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jen Adach, 202-986-2200, jadach@frac.org

Food Stamp Participation Hits New High
In Nearly Two-Thirds of States, More Than One in Ten Residents Receiving SNAP/Food Stamps

Washington, D.C. – June 3, 2009 – SNAP/Food Stamp participation continues to set record levels, with nearly 33.2 million people (one in nine Americans) receiving the benefit in March 2009, according to newly issued Department of Agriculture data.. Over the past twelve months, participation grew by 5.2 million individuals.

Growth in the program has been so pronounced that FRAC’s analysis shows, as of March 2009 (the last month for which data have been released) that:

In nearly two-thirds of the states (31 states plus the District of Columbia), at least one in ten residents received SNAP/Food Stamp benefits in March. Those states are: Missouri; District of Columbia; Tennessee; West Virginia; Mississippi; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Oregon; South Carolina; New Mexico; Alabama; Michigan; Arkansas; Georgia; Oklahoma; Arizona; North Carolina; Texas; New York; Vermont; Ohio; Washington; Illinois; Indiana; Pennsylvania; Florida; Delaware; Iowa; Alaska; Massachusetts; and Wisconsin.

In 20 of those states, more than one in eight residents was receiving SNAP/Food Stamps. Those states are: Missouri; District of Columbia; Tennessee; West Virginia; Mississippi; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Oregon; South Carolina; New Mexico; Alabama; Michigan; Arkansas; Georgia; Oklahoma; Arizona; North Carolina; Texas; and New York.

Click here for state-by-state numbers. (pdf)

“It’s very likely that the numbers will continue to grow in the coming months as a turnaround in unemployment and wage declines typically lags behind the recovery of the broader economy as measured by GDP,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center. “It’s tough out there for struggling families, and will be for many months to come, and states must do all they can to capture eligible people.”

While lower ratios of beneficiaries to population in some wealthier states may mean that fewer people are eligible, the lower ratios also reflect the relatively poor job that some states are doing in connecting eligible low-income families to benefits. For example, six of the ten states with the lowest ratios of participants in March 2009 (Nevada, California, Utah, Colorado, New Jersey and Wyoming) rank among the 13 worst states in the nation in reaching eligible people, according to USDA data for state participation rates in 2006 (the most recent available).

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The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) is the leading national nonprofit organization working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States.