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University of Wisconsin–Madison
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty

SNAP Enrollment

  • Despite high poverty, Californians’ food aid use is low, By Dan Walters, March 3, 2015, Sacramento Bee: “Nearly a quarter of California’s 38 million residents are living in poverty by a new Census Bureau method of calculating economic well-being – by far the nation’s highest rate.  But the 23.8 percent of Californians who are impoverished – due largely to the state’s very high costs of housing and other necessities – have one of the nation’s lowest rates of using federal food assistance benefits, according to another Census Bureau report and data from federal and state agencies…”
  • The astonishing state-by-state rise in food stamp reliance, By Niraj Chokshi, March 3, 2015, Washington Post: “The share of households on food stamps has more than doubled since 2000, a new Census Bureau report finds. From 2000 to 2013, the share of households receiving aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has grown from 6.2 percent to 13.5 percent nationally. What was once a program providing aid to 1 in 16 Americans is now helping 1 in 8.