- Number of N.J. residents receiving food stamps doubled in last four years, By Eric Sagara and Stephen Stirling, November 27, 2011, Star-Ledger: “The number of New Jersey residents receiving food stamps has doubled in the past four years and is at its highest level in more than a decade as the nation’s still sputtering economy continues to take its toll on the poorest residents of the Garden State, state and federal data show. As of September, the most recent data released by the state Department of Human Services, more than 400,000 households and nearly 822,000 people were enrolled in the food stamp program, meaning nearly one out of every 10 residents in New Jersey receives assistance.As of September, the most recent data released by the state Department of Human Services, more than 400,000 households and nearly 822,000 people were enrolled in the food stamp program, meaning nearly one out of every 10 residents in New Jersey receives assistance…”
- Michigan ranks third in use of food stamps, By Maureen Groppe, November 21, 2011, Lansing State Journal: “Michigan households relied on food stamps last year more than all but two other states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And the 16.9 percent of Michigan households that received food stamps in 2010 was up from the 14.5 percent that did in 2009. The figures released last week come from the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey. Participants were asked whether anyone in the household received food stamps in the last 12 months…”
- Food stamp divide grows, By Bob Smietana, November 23, 2011, The Tennessean: “David Shelley of Nashville used to work two jobs to feed his wife and two children, but it still wasn’t enough. So, for a few months, they used food stamps to make ends meet. Two decades later, he’s a Baptist pastor and small businessman, and he’s joining a growing number of people critical of the food stamp program at the same time participation is at a record high. He fears it’s becoming an entitlement program people don’t try to leave. ‘If you are working and you are doing your best and you need food stamps, then God bless you,’ he said. Otherwise, he believes the Bible message is clear: If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Nearly 46 million Americans participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps. That’s up from 17 million in 2002 and includes 15 percent of households in Tennessee, according to the Census Bureau. The price of the program – about $68 billion annually – and the nation’s budget crisis have opened it to scrutiny and revealed deep divides in American culture…”
- Food stamp usage sticking, By Joan Garrett, November 25, 2011, Chattanooga Times Free Press: “As Tennessee families paused to give thanks around the dinner table Thursday, one of every six households was getting help from Uncle Sam. A new study found that Tennessee ranked second behind only Oregon in the share of households receiving food stamps, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Payments (SNAP), during 2010. The U.S. Bureau of Census reports that 45 states provided more federal help with groceries last year, swelling the number of U.S. households getting food stamps to 13.6 million…”
Month: November 2011
Child Poverty – Canada
- Ottawa lacks plan to fight child poverty, coalition says, By Laurie Monsebraaten, November 23, 2011, Toronto Star: “When it comes to helping Canada’s 639,000 children living in poverty, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That is the sobering message from Campaign 2000, a national coalition of more than 120 groups and individuals that has been lobbying for federal action on the issue for two decades. ‘Neither the promised poverty elimination or plans have materialized,’ the group says in its 20th anniversary progress report on Ottawa’s 1989 pledge to tackle the issue. The report, obtained by the Star, is being released Wednesday and calls on the government to cut poverty by at least 50 per cent by 2020. Canada’s poverty rate in 2009 was 9.5 per cent. And although the rate has inched up and down with the business cycle over the past 20 years, the report notes that the problem remains largely unchanged from 1989, when 11.9 per cent of the nation’s children were living in poverty…”
- Report: More kids living in poverty, By Frances Willick, November 23, 2011, Chronicle Herald: “It was 22 years ago this week that Canada’s leaders gathered in the House of Commons to unanimously pass a lofty, daunting goal: to eliminate poverty among Canadian children by the year 2000. A laudable goal, yes, but in hindsight, it was unattainable. The most recent statistics, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, show that child poverty has not only lingered, but for the first time since 2003, it’s on the rise. In 2009, the most recent year for which statistics are available, nearly 10 per cent of Canadian children under the age of 18 lived in poverty. In Nova Scotia, 8.2 per cent of kids lived below the poverty line. That’s up from a nationwide low of 9.1 per cent in 2008 and a low in Nova Scotia of 7.9 per cent…”
High School Graduation Rate – Missouri
Missouri, Illinois adjust to changing graduation formula, By Jessica Bock, November 21, 2011, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “For years, comparing high school graduation rates between Missouri and Illinois – or any other state for that matter – was difficult to impossible. The numbers simply didn’t match. Education officials in each state had their own way of calculating the percentage of students graduating each year. Some, like Missouri, accounted for certain students who needed more than four years to earn a diploma. A few included in the equation those who had obtained equivalency diplomas. Others were thought to have inflated graduation rates because of poor tracking of dropouts. In data released today, Missouri for the first time is publishing a graduation rate under a new formula – mandated by the federal government – that makes it easier to make comparisons across the country…”