Food stamps going to working-age people, By Hope Yen (AP), January 27, 2014, Columbus Dispatch: “In a first, working-age people now make up the majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps. That’s a switch from a few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients. Some of the change is attributed to demographics, such as the trend toward having fewer children. But a slow economic recovery with high unemployment, stagnant wages and an increasing gulf between low-wage and high-skill jobs also plays a big role. It suggests that $80 billion a year the government spends on the food-stamp program — twice what it cost five years ago — might not subside significantly soon…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty