US emerging as 'food-stamp country'

Using food stamps have become very common in many parts of the United States

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195278.html

The United States has gradually become a food-stamp nation as high costs and lower wages make the lives of average citizens more challenging.

According to a recent report published by Reuters on Monday, there are over 46 million people in the US living on food stamps, which means that about 15 percent of the country's population can only afford their living expenses through government handouts.

The figure indicates a 74-percent rise in the number of food stamp recipients since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession hit the US, leading to mass job losses.

About 40 percent of American recipients of supplemental nutrition assistance are those households that have at least one wage earner but could still hardly afford monthly rent and utility payments.

The maximum amount a family-of-four can receive in monthly food stamps is $668, which can only be used to purchase food.

In May 2011, a third of all the people in the state of Alabama were put on food coupons. Many of them were those that were hit by a series of devastating tornadoes.

The United States Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a program that provides assistance to low- and no-income people and families living in the US.