Holiday hunger

http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/holiday_hunger/#When:19:33:09Z

November 24, 2010

This Thanksgiving, 42.4 million Americans – 13.7% of the population -- are receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program, more commonly known as Food Stamps. The number is up from 36.2 million last year and has risen by 15 million since the start of the recession in December 2007.

----- (skipping)

In addition to widened eligibility, the increase use of Food Stamps reflects a higher poverty rate and increased unemployment. Earlier this year, the Census Bureau reported that the poverty rate rose from 13.2% in 2008 to 14.3% in 2009. As EPI Economists noted in an analysis of that data, “When unemployment skyrockets and job seekers cannot find work, incomes fall and poverty rises.”

..