More than four years after the official end of the recession, job growth is still weak, unemployment still high and nearly 2 million Georgians are receiving government help in buying food.
Formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – SNAP – the food stamp program now provides help to 19.7 percent of the state’s population – nearly one of every five, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.
The use of food stamps was dramatically lower before the nation plunged into recession in late 2007. But with the spread of economic hardship and government attempt to market the program, SNAP participation surged even as the economy was hitting bottom in 2009 and starting to expand.
Since then, the jobless rate’s decline has been slower than in previous recoveries, the pool of new jobs has been modest and the number of participants has stayed elevated.
In Georgia, the number of food stamp participants dipped 1.3 percent between July 2012 and July 2013, according to the Food and Nutrition Service.
During that same period, the number of participants in the United States was up 1.7 percent.
BY THE NUMBERS: GEORGIANS ON FOOD STAMPS
» 1,959,113 – number of people receiving food stamp assistance
» -1.3 percent – change in that number over the past 12 months
» 34 percent – proportion of recipients who are white
» 57 percent – recipients who are African-American
» 26 percent – proportion of recipients with zero gross income
» 13 percent – proportion of recipients with income above the poverty line
» 52 percent – proportion of recipient households with children
» 14 percent – proportion of recipient households with elderly members
» 21 percent – proportion of recipient households with at least one non-disabled adult and no children
» 33 percent – proportion of recipient households with earned income
» 20 percent – proportion of recipient households with Social Security income
» 17 percent – proportion of recipients who are pre-school children
» 30 percent – proportion of recipients who are school age children
» 46 percent – proportion of recipients who are non-elderly adults
» 7 percent – proportion of recipients who are elderly
» 2 percent – proportion of recipients who are refugees and other non-U.S. citizens
BY THE NUMBERS: AMERICANS ON FOOD STAMPS
» 47,637,407 – number of people receiving food stamp assistance
» 1.7 percent – increase in that number over the past 12 months
» 37 percent – proportion of recipients who are white
» 23 percent – recipients who are African-American
Source: Food and Nutrition Service, U.SA. Department of Agriculture. Data used was the most recent available.
