Recovering economy: 2 million off food stamps in past year

Posted by | August 23, 2016 22:35 | Filed under: Economy Good News Politics

Republish
Reprint


One sign of how the economy is improving is the number of people no longer needing food stamps.

Nationally, 43.5 million Americans received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in May, the Agriculture Department (USDA) said this month. That’s down from 45.5 million who received those same benefits in May 2015, and down from a peak of 47.8 million beneficiaries in December 2012.

The decline reflects a recovering economy after the worst recession in generations. But in many states, lower SNAP enrollment numbers reflect the reimplementation of rules that require adults who receive benefits to work.

The 1996 welfare overhaul signed into law by then-President Clinton limited childless, able-bodied adults to three months of SNAP benefits every three years, if they weren’t working, volunteering or earning an education. The 2009 federal stimulus bill allowed states to waive the work requirement in areas with high unemployment.

But now those waivers are ending in many states, either because the federal government has not extended the waivers or because state governors are opting out of them.

In recent years, 15 states have opted out of those waivers, limiting out-of-work adults to three months of food stamp benefits before they must find a job. In 2016, 22 more states will implement work requirements for the first time since the recession.

Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

12 responses to Recovering economy: 2 million off food stamps in past year

  1. oldfart August 24th, 2016 at 01:39

    “lower SNAP enrollment numbers reflect the reimplementation of rules that require adults who receive benefits to work.”
    AKA working at wally world…
    Which is also why 15 an hour would be a good idea, making that much money would disaqualify pretty much 80/90 percent of the population
    but still republicans would bitch about those damn takers…

    • Tommie August 24th, 2016 at 01:46

      That’s good since there are alot of republicans who do bit*h and are takers themselves and they have money!

  2. Tommie August 24th, 2016 at 01:44

    Don’t tell Hannity, he will not believe it and he won’t be able to use this info. on his show since it is good news for Obama!

    • Suzanne McFly August 24th, 2016 at 11:02

      The right wingers will claim President Obama is taking food stamps from white people, that is why less people are on it.

  3. katkelly57 August 24th, 2016 at 02:33

    My brain is too tired and scrambled to recall where I read/heard this…I was under the impression that right before or after xmas that the righties failed to extend SNAP benefits or were cutting funding dramatically.

    Anyone remember anything of the sort?

  4. Gary Parillo August 24th, 2016 at 02:52

    So if someone is able bodied,but still cant find work,they are only allowed to eat 3 months out of12? Wont stay very able bodied that way.

    • whatthe46 August 24th, 2016 at 03:04

      they expect you to work for minimum wage at your local fast food joint. and even if they did, with the cost of living, they would be working only to pay whatever bills they have that are absolutely necessary. rent, phone, electricity, insurance (if they have a car) etc. after those are paid, barely, they don’t have the funds to purchase groceries. and most fast food joints don’t even hire full time, it’s always part-time.

      • Gary Parillo August 24th, 2016 at 03:23

        I know.Its been a sad situation for years now.Before I had to retire,never made enough to do much more than pay rent,eat,and waste money on a car so i could get to work and not make enough to do anything but pay rent and eat&keep the car running.Its a vicious frustrating circle,that at least half the workforce is trapped in.All jobs should pay a liveable wage,even so called unskilled ones.Somehow i dont think the economy has improved as much as some say.

        • whatthe46 August 24th, 2016 at 03:30

          well i agree with most of your post. the thing is, it is better than it has been. private sectors are hiring. some think if you work at a fast food joint or places like wal-mart, that 15 bucks is too much. i call b.s. the fact is, even if those places are required to pay a minimum wage of 15 an hour, it doesn’t hurt them as it’s only part-time work and at least, maybe, the employer will have a few bucks more in their pockets after everything else is paid.

          • Gary Parillo August 24th, 2016 at 03:37

            Agreed.15 hr. Is reasonable nowadays, and those big companies can afford it. Most companies dont even pay insurance anymore unless there forced to.Obama care has fixed some of that problem though.

  5. The Original Just Me August 25th, 2016 at 10:43

    It’s kind of funny that you don’t see news like this in Main Stream Media. I guess Pres. Obama’s Leadership isn’t such a “YUGE ” thing.

  6. Ned Nutley August 26th, 2016 at 14:22

    More rightwing lies bite the dust!

Leave a Reply