In US 14 Percent Rely on Food Stamps, 42,389,619 Americans received food stamps in August

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More Americans are using government assistance to buy food. Bloomberg News

(Wall Street Journal) — A huge number of American households are still relying on government assistance to buy food as the recession continues to batter families.

Food stamp recipients ticked up in August, children consumed millions of free lunches and nearly five million low-income mothers tapped into a government nutrition program for women and young children.

Some 42,389,619 Americans received food stamps in August, a 17% rise from the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which tracks the data. That number is up 58.5% from August 2007, before the recession began.

By population, Washington, D.C. had the largest share of residents receiving food stamps: More than a fifth, 21.1%, of its residents collected assistance in August. Washington was followed by Mississippi, where 20.1% of residents received food stamps, and Tennessee, where 20% tapped into the government nutrition program.

Idaho posted the largest jump in recipients in the past year. The number of people receiving food stamps climbed 38.8% but their rolls are still fairly low. Just 211,883 Idaho residents collected food stamps in August.

The average benefit size per person nationwide in August was $133.90. Per household it was $287.82.

Food stamps have become a lifeline for workers who have lost their jobs, particularly among the growing share of unemployed Americans who have also exhausted their unemployment benefits. Lines at grocers at midnight on the first of the month have signaled that, in many cases, those benefits aren’t tiding families over and they run out before their next check kicks in.

Even during the summer children returned to schools to take advantage of free lunch programs where they were available. Nearly 195 million lunches were dished out in August and 58.9% of them were free. Another 8.4% were available at reduced prices. That number will surge when the fall data are released because children will be back in school. Last September, for example, more than 590 million lunches were served, nearly 64% of which were free or reduced price.

Children whose families have incomes at or below 130% of the poverty level — $28,665 for a family of four — can access free meals. Those families earning between 130% and 185% of the poverty level — $40,793 for a four-person family — are eligible for reduced-price meals that can’t cost more than 40 cents.

Food Stamp Use, by State

State Number of people on food stamps Aug. 2010 Year-over-year change Month-over-month change Percent of population on food stamps
U.S. total 42,389,619 17.0% 1.3% 13.8%
Alabama 839,921 13.4% 1.7% 17.8%
Alaska 81,271 16.3% -0.4% 11.6%
Arizona 1,047,779 13.9% 0.3% 15.9%
Arkansas 480,144 9.8% 1.1% 16.6%
California 3,425,892 18.5% 1.4% 9.3%
Colorado 424,314 21.4% 1.1% 8.4%
Connecticut 359,487 25.5% 1.8% 10.2%
Delaware 121,539 23.0% 2.2% 13.7%
District of Columbia 126,651 16.6% 1.9% 21.1%
Florida 2,809,636 26.1% 2.2% 15.2%
Georgia 1,681,376 18.2% 1.4% 17.1%
Hawaii 145,534 16.4% 1.1% 11.2%
Idaho 211,883 38.8% 1.6% 13.7%
Illinois 1,695,069 10.9% 1.2% 13.1%
Indiana 853,086 14.4% 1.7% 13.3%
Iowa 351,992 12.4% 0.7% 11.7%
Kansas 289,399 18.4% 2.3% 10.3%
Kentucky 805,040 8.9% 1.3% 18.7%
Louisiana 856,446 10.7% 0.6% 19.1%
Maine 237,377 10.6% 0.5% 18.0%
Maryland 606,893 20.4% 3.1% 10.6%
Massachusetts 778,033 13.2% 0.8% 11.8%
Michigan 1,877,087 19.3% 1.7% 18.8%
Minnesota 452,612 18.7% 1.1% 8.6%
Mississippi 594,788 9.2% 1.5% 20.1%
Missouri 927,068 9.0% 0.9% 15.5%
Montana 118,958 16.7% 0.7% 12.2%
Nebraska 169,445 16.3% 1.1% 9.4%
Nevada 309,586 30.0% 3.5% 11.7%
New Hampshire 109,967 23.2% 0.7% 8.3%
New Jersey 677,167 26.6% 1.1% 7.8%
New Mexico 387,966 20.7% 2.4% 19.3%
New York 2,874,189 14.6% 0.5% 14.7%
North Carolina 1,442,650 17.1% 3.6% 15.4%
North Dakota 61,049 8.0% 0.4% 9.4%
Ohio 1,670,671 12.8% 1.1% 14.5%
Oklahoma 608,349 15.7% 1.2% 16.5%
Oregon 733,371 14.3% 1.1% 19.2%
Pennsylvania 1,638,967 14.4% 0.8% 13.0%
Rhode Island 148,529 27.8% 1.5% 14.1%
South Carolina 829,862 12.5% 1.4% 18.2%
South Dakota 99,467 18.0% 0.5% 12.2%
Tennessee 1,260,726 9.6% 0.7% 20.0%
Texas 3,803,719 25.2% 1.2% 15.3%
Utah 260,112 23.2% -1.0% 9.3%
Vermont 86,897 8.4% 0.8% 14.0%
Virginia 820,549 15.1% 1.2% 10.4%
Washington 998,372 17.6% 1.0% 15.0%
West Virginia 345,906 6.7% 1.5% 19.0%
Wisconsin 757,728 22.7% 1.4% 13.4%
Wyoming 35,536 21.3% 0.6% 6.5%

Sources: USDA, WSJ Research

By Sara Murray
November 4, 2010, 2:47 PM ET

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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