Half of U.S. children will get food stamps, study finds
Current economic concerns could push number higher
By The Associated Press
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Published: November 3, 2009
CHICAGO — Nearly half of all American 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.
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535,880: Number of Oklahomans receiving food stamps in September.
28: Percentage of Oklahoma children receiving food stamp benefits in September.
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. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author
Mark Rank, a sociologist at
Washington University in St. Louis.
"Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it’s not the kind of thing people want to talk about,” Rank said.
The analysis was released Monday in the November issue of
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The authors say it’s a medical issue pediatricians need to be aware of because children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked with poverty.
Food stamps are a Department of Agriculture program 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.
According to a
USDA report released last month, 28.4 million Americans received food stamps in an average month in 2008.
Overall, about 49 percent of all children were on food stamps at some point by the age of 20. That includes 90 percent of black children and 37 percent of whites. The analysis didn’t include other ethnic groups.
The time span included typical economic ups and downs, including the early 1980s recession.
That means similar portions of children now and in the future will live in families receiving food stamps, Rank said.
James Weill, president of Food Research and Action Center, a
Washington-based advocacy group, said the analysis underscores that "there are just very large numbers of people who rely on this program for a month, six months, a year.”
"What I hope comes out of this study is an understanding that food stamp beneficiaries aren’t them — they’re us,” Weill said.
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