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(WSJ) Food-stamp use jumped in the U.S. in December with more than 1 in 7 people receiving benefits, even as a program for disaster assistance related to Hurricane Irene came to an end.
Food stamp rolls increased 5.5% in 2011, the Department of Agriculture reported, though the pace of growth has slowed from the depths of the recession.
The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), rose to 46.5 million, or 15% of the population in December. The numbers receiving benefits were boosted by disaster assistance in the late summer and autumn due to Hurricane Irene, but the those programs were largely ended by December in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania the last states still in need.
Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii, Alaska, New Jersey, Delaware and Iowa all saw year-over-year jumps in use by over 10%. Just Wyoming, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah and West Virginia posted annual drops in the number of people receiving food stamps.
Mississippi reported the largest share of its population relying on food stamps, more than 21%. One in five residents in New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington DC also were food-stamp recipients.
Food stamp rolls exploded during the downturn, which began in late 2007. Even after the recession came to its official end in June 2009, families continued to tap into food assistance as unemployment remained high and those lucky enough to find jobs were often met with lower wages.
States also made changes to make it easier for residents to tap into the program, such as waiving requirements that limited the value of assets food stamp recipients could own.
