- Record number of North Dakotans using food stamps, up 19 pct from 2009, By James MacPherson, February 11, 2011, Bismarck Tribune: “A record number of North Dakotans are using food stamps to buy groceries, coinciding with the state’s population growth but contrary to its robust economy, the director of the state Data Center says. North Dakota had an average of 59,888 people per month receiving food assistance in fiscal 2010, up from 53,070 in 2009, said Richard Rathge, the Data Center director and North Dakota demographer. The fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Rathge said the federal Agriculture Department figures show ‘an apparent contradiction’ with North Dakota’s strong economy that has been fueled largely by the state’s booming oil patch. North Dakota’s unemployment rate of 3.8 percent is the nation’s lowest…”
- Record number of Rhode Islanders using food stamps, By Paul Davis, February 11, 2011, Providence Journal: “A record 155,184 Rhode Islanders received food stamps at year’s end, according to figures from the state Department of Human Services. The number of people getting help from the federally financed program – now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – increased by more than 26,400 people in December, up 20 percent from December 2009. The number has been rising steadily over the past 12 months. That means about one in seven Rhode Islanders relies on government food assistance, another sign that the state’s poorest residents have yet to recover from the worst recession in decades…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty