Spinoff of "Hunger" Thread - Interactive Map Food Stamps

[sidepasser]

Here is an interactive map that shows EVERY county in the US and the status of food stamp recipients - my county has a 37% increase since 2007 in number of recipients. Some counties are up 117% in my state.

anyway - here you go:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...oodstamps.html

[TurnerHill]

7% in my county, but up 37%.

[TheMartianChick]

My county food stamp recipients have increased by 31%. It is sad commentary on life in an area that has been hard hit by the recession. We are still losing more jobs... There was an article in the local paper over the weekend about a man who lost his job and had to pick up 3 part time jobs to try to make ends meet. We have 6 people available for ever 1 available job!

[ErinP]

Interesting. We're 2% (Median household income is $31K)

up 10% since '07

[kritter8888]

15 % of the people up 31%. I know for a fact few people who have recently gotton them. One person to remain nameless is single has two children and is perfectly capable of working and she gets $500 a month (along with other assistance). I wish my grocery bill could be anywhere near that. The bad part is she mostly buys junk food no cooking in her house.

[Cabin Fever]

I don't understand why children have thier own category? Is it saying that the parents don't need food stamps but the children do (which is illogical to me)?

[agmantoo]

Cabin Fever, do you think the children are getting included as receiving school meals?

[ErinP]

I think they're just tracking the prevalence of food stamps for homes with children vs. those without. But that's just my guess.

[salmonslayer]

Here is a spread for ya, my Borough in Alaska is at 8% and up 32% while my county in Missouri is at 32% and up 26%. We just had a mine clear some environmental hurdles near where I live in Alaska so jobs are picking up and we didnt really get hit with the real estate bubbles everyone else did (almost all loans were conventional fixed rate).

I wonder if there really is that big of an increase in need or did the eligibility requirements change?

[FrontPorch]

Wow, 4% up 58%.

[FrontPorch]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

I don't understand why children have thier own category? Is it saying that the parents don't need food stamps but the children do (which is illogical to me)?

The school lunch program is a separate entity. It's been years and years since I worked in the court system but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with single parents with multiple children. Like a mom making x dollars wouldn't qualify with two children but since she has three she gets a reduced amount or something like that. So from a statistics standpoint it's that third child that is counted, not the mom.

[Pink_Carnation]

What gets me is in some areas the change hasn't been that bad but the rates are 39% or more of the people with food stamps.

The reason for the category children is to sell the voters on more money for food stamps based on "it's for the children".

[jassytoo]

Wow, in my county it's up 55%!

[KIT.S]

Aren't they just showing the percentage of total foodstamp recipients that are children? You know, 1 parent, 7 kids? I'm sorry to bring this up, but I would really like to know the Hispanic breakdown rather, or along with, the white and black.
I read recently that Oregon had nearly the highest lack of food safety/hunger in the nation, but according to this, that's not true. I really distrust blanket statements, as they are so difficult to verify, and are usually used to sway opinion. Also, this area of Oregon grows so much food, it's hard to understand why people can't figure out a way to feed themselves. Other than that so many can't and won't cook or get their hands dirty picking it in the first place.
Oh, well. My family may not have any money left over at the end of the month, but we all eat well.
Kit

[CherieOH]

My county stands at 17%, up 66%. Doesn't surprise me, as factories have been shutting down or moving to other countries left and right. We're even seeing churches shut their doors because of a lack of money.

[Ken Scharabok]

The amount of aid will vary depending on the income and number of people. A single person may receive one amount. A couple without children another. One child another and two children the maximum allowed based on income.

Related article (and please let's not get into an argument over how this family spent their allotment).

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/1...ood-on-the%2F#

[Ernie]

My county is kind of bizarre. 10% of whites are on food stamps as opposed to 46% of blacks. We're up 24% to 16%.

These numbers don't make sense. 46% of the black population makes up WAY more than 16% of the total population.

[Delrio]

You gotta wonder about their figures on the map. In our county we have about 13,000 people and it says that 12 percent are blacks on food stamps. This is an extremely racist area and there is not 1000+ blacks here, more like a handful in the whole county.

[Ken Scharabok]

I read the numbers differently. Of the whites (non-blacks) in a county X percent of them were receiving SNAP in some amount. Of the blacks, Y percent.

For example, data for my county (about 19K) shows 30% of blacks receiving food assistance. However, the black population is only about 4% of total (or around 760). Of those about 228 are doing so.

Bi-racial children may also mess up their figures a bit.

[geo in mi]

From the USDA SNAP website FAQ: 23. What are some characteristics of SNAP households?

Based on a study of data gathered in Fiscal Year 2006:

49 percent of all participants are children (18 or younger), and 61 percent of them live in single-parent households.

52 percent of SNAP households include children.

9 percent of all participants are elderly (age 60 or over).

76 percent of all benefits go to households with children, 16 percent go to households with disabled persons, and 9 percent go to households with elderly persons.

33 percent of households with children were headed by a single parent, the overwhelming majority of which were headed by women.

The average household size is 2.3 persons.

The average gross monthly income per SNAP household is $673.

43 percent of participants are white; 33 percent are African-American, non-Hispanic; 19 percent are Hispanic; 2 percent are Asian, 2 percent are Native American, and less than 1 percent are of unknown race or ethnicity.


These figures are from BEFORE the current recession period, so it would be interesting to see the same breakdown today.