Half of all U.S. children will be on food stamps according to study

Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say.

The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. [snip]

The analysis is in line with other recent research suggesting that more than 40 percent of U.S. children will live in poverty or near-poverty by age 17; and that half will live at some point in a single-parent family. Also, other researchers have estimated that slightly more than half of adults will use food stamps at some point by age 65.  (AP via Breitbart)

The above pronouncement according to the analysis released yesterday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.  Food stamps are for low-income individuals and families -- for a family of four to be eligible, their annual take-home pay can't exceed about $22,000.

As with most government programs, the Food Stamp program is full of waste and fraud.  You can apply online, have someone stand in for you at the face-to-face interview.  And like most studies there are always two ways to look at the results:

Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, says the study design and survey data are solid. But he says the findings are neither surprising nor troubling.

"That's effectively like saying that at some point in a 20-year period, a parent would be unemployed for a month or so," Rector says.

"There's no evidence that even consistent poverty in the U.S. produces a nutritional risk," he says, noting that rich and poor children tend to have about the same intake of protein, vitamins and minerals.  (USA Today)

I would like to share reader comments from the USA Today article, which may represent your thoughts as well:

1.  "...how many families really truly need the help? Cell phones, palm pilots, flat screens, video games, fancy cars, seem to be the first priority of the parents."

2.  "I find out that a large percentage of the people in this country consider taking government welfare some sort of birthright. What has changed in order for people to have changed from working class to welfare class?
20 million illegals and their anchor kids?
People born to unwed teen moms who were reared in welfare housing?
They certainly did not learn it from hard working parents."

3. "... report to the post office on fathers day. The government is yo baby's daddy."  

SNAP!  The UN Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition program, as of Oct. 1, 2008, federal Food Stamp Program is now: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

It's not just food stamps that people look to the government for, it's disability (extension of unemployment benefits by Congress -- for as long as 59 weeks), housing and mortgage assistance, government grants and loans, disaster assistance, medical coverage (TennCare, etc), welfare and on and on.

In December 18, 2008 - Number of Americans with a Disability Reaches 54.4 Million.

In September 2008 - 1.6 million Americans were on welfare.  That number continues to increase.

The federal government's fiscal stimulus includes $5 billion for states where more families receive welfare or spending increases on employment subsidies or short-term emergency assistance. That provision sparked concerns from the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups that President Barack Obama was undoing the provisions of the 1996 law intended to encourage states to get people off welfare and onto payrolls.  [snip]

Despite the deep recession, a few big states still have declining welfare rolls.

In Michigan, for example, welfare caseloads were down 4.8% in April from a year ago even though the number of residents receiving food stamps was up 13% in March to more than 1.4 million people. Some advocacy groups for the poor complain that strict front-end requirements -- which force welfare recipients to look for work in a state with a 14% unemployment rate before even meeting with a caseworker -- deter many from seeking help.  (WSJ, June 22, 2009)

Are there people who really do need assistance now and then?  Yes, of course there are and we have a duty to help those less fortunate that we are.     But it appears to me that the number of people looking to the government (which has no money of it's own other than what it takes from the working citizens) has grown with the election of Barack Obama.  Many voted for him with the expectation that they would be taken care of, as a woman somewhere said  "I'm getting some Obama money.  We love him.  That's why we voted for him.  Obama.  Obama."  

There is no such thing as government money or Obama money -- there is only my money and your money.

Comments

[Debbie]

Doom: I see rebellion in the wind...

Katie: I'm so sorry you still don't have a job. Any possibilities out there in your profession?

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1131486865]

That is why I can't get help even though I'm out of work, living on a very small pension and I have the wrong skin color and last name.

Funny how my neighbors get TITLE 8, Food Stamps, Welfare, etc... They are illegal, and he works making $15 an hour.

[Doom]

I think it is the goal to get more people on it. The more people owing to the government, the more the government can do and have the people say nothing. Or worse, those people are then willing to vote to take away the freedoms for others that they have sold for a paltry sum. The only way out of this is to make it so only tax payers may vote.

No more ghetto votes, no more college kid votes. No tax paying, no voting. The nation was created because of taxation without representation, why should non-taxpayers be allowed representation? Silly, stupid, possibly suicidal to the nation.

[Debbie]

Ron: That is an amazing story. Every single Black kid was on food stamps, including the teachers children??? Wow.

I know there is a lot of abuse in all government programs.

They use children to push these programs as with all programs. Do it for the children...

[Ron Russell]

Food stamps and the free lunch have become a way of life for many--not just for those in the low income groups, but for many who scam the system. A number of years ago I taught school in NE Louisiana--the school I was in was almost 100% black we only had 3 white students and an equal number of white teachers. One day I had lunch room duty and was I in for a shock. Every single black student in the school got a free lunch and the three white students paid for theirs. Some of the black students were the childern of black teachers at the school so I know for a fact they did not meet the federal or state guidelines for free lunches. Many are gaming the system at the expense of all tax-payers.