Home__Guy
2014-01-27 03:32:22 UTC
What are these - "food stamps" ?
Food that is stamped out in small packages - and given to people by the
gov't?
We don't have a program like that up here in socialist Canada.
We also don't have unemployment insurance programs that last 2 years, or
open-ended gov't funded employment disability programs up here in
socialist Canada, or programs that subsidize telco/cell phone service
(Obama phone). Or school lunch programs.
Um - can you explain again why we are socialist - and you are not?
"Economists say having a job may no longer be enough for
self-sufficiency in today's economy."
Such is life and times in the USA today.
This is what you get for illegally invading Iraq back in 2003. You can
trace this destruction of your economy back to that decision by the
puppet GW Monkey Bush and the neo-conservatives and oil cartels
controlling him.
==================================
Jan 26, 5:14 PM EST
The new face of food stamps: working-age Americans
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a first, working-age people now make up the
majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps - a switch from a
few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients.
Some of the change is due 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 government
spending on the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program - twice what it
cost five years ago - may not subside significantly anytime soon.
Food stamp participation since 1980 has grown the fastest among workers
with some college training, a sign that the safety net has stretched
further to cover America's former middle class, according to an analysis
of government data for The Associated Press by economists at the
University of Kentucky. Formally called Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance, or SNAP, the program now covers 1 in 7 Americans.
The findings coincide with the latest economic data showing workers'
wages and salaries growing at the lowest rate relative to corporate
profits in U.S. history.
President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night is
expected to focus in part on reducing income inequality, such as by
raising the federal minimum wage. Congress, meanwhile, is debating cuts
to food stamps, with Republicans including House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor, R-Va., wanting a $4 billion-a-year reduction to an anti-poverty
program that they say promotes dependency and abuse.
Economists say having a job may no longer be enough for self-sufficiency
in today's economy.
"A low-wage job supplemented with food stamps is becoming more common
for the working poor," said Timothy Smeeding, an economics professor at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in income
inequality. "Many of the U.S. jobs now being created are low- or
minimum-wage - part-time or in areas such as retail or fast food - which
means food stamp use will stay high for some time, even after
unemployment improves."
The newer food stamp recipients include Maggie Barcellano, 25, of
Austin, Texas. A high school graduate, she enrolled in college but
didn't complete her nursing degree after she could no longer afford the
tuition.
Hoping to boost her credentials, she went through emergency medical
technician training with the Army National Guard last year but was
unable to find work as a paramedic because of the additional
certification and fees required. Barcellano, now the mother of a
3-year-old daughter, finally took a job as a home health aide, working
six days a week at $10 an hour. Struggling with the low income, she
recently applied for food stamps with the help of the nonprofit Any Baby
Can, to help save up for paramedic training.
"It's devastating," Barcellano said. "When I left for the Army I was so
motivated, thinking I was creating a situation where I could give my
daughter what I know she deserves. But when I came back and basically
found myself in the same situation, it was like it was all for naught."
Since 2009, more than 50 percent of U.S. households receiving food
stamps have been adults ages 18 to 59, according to the Census Bureau's
Current Population Survey. The food stamp program defines non-elderly
adults as anyone younger than 60.
As recently as 1998, the working-age share of food stamp households was
at a low of 44 percent, before the dot-com bust and subsequent
recessions in 2001 and 2007 pushed new enrollees into the program,
according to the analysis by James Ziliak, director of the Center for
Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky.
By education, about 28 percent of food stamp households are headed by a
person with at least some college training, up from 8 percent in 1980.
Among those with four-year college degrees, the share rose from 3
percent to 7 percent. High-school graduates head the bulk of food stamp
households at 37 percent, up from 28 percent. In contrast, food stamp
households headed by a high-school dropout have dropped by more than
half, to 28 percent.
The shifts in food stamp participation come amid broader changes to the
economy such as automation, globalization and outsourcing, which have
polarized the job market. Many good-paying jobs in areas such as
manufacturing have disappeared, shrinking the American middle class and
bumping people with higher levels of education into lower-wage work.
An analysis Ziliak conducted for the AP finds that stagnant wages and
income inequality play an increasing role in the growth of food stamp
rolls.
Taking into account changing family structure, higher unemployment and
policy expansions to the food stamp program, the analysis shows that
stagnant wages and income inequality explained just 3.5 percent of the
change in food stamp enrollment from 1980 to 2011. But from 2000 to
2011, wages and inequality accounted for 13 percent of the increase.
Several economists say food stamp rolls are likely to remain elevated
for some time. Historically, there has been a lag before an improving
unemployment rate leads to a substantial decline in food stamp rolls;
the Congressional Budget Office has projected it could take 10 years.
"We do not expect income inequality stabilizing or declining in the
absence of real wage growth or a significant reduction in unemployment
and underemployment problems," said Ishwar Khatiwada, an economist for
the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University who
reviewed the Labor and Commerce departments' wage data.
Full- and part-time workers employed year-round saw the fastest growth
in food stamp participation since 1980, making up 17 percent and 7
percent of households, respectively. In contrast, the share of food
stamp households headed by an unemployed person has remained largely
unchanged, at 53 percent. Part-year workers declined in food stamp
share.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FOOD_STAMPS_INCOME_INEQUALITY
Food that is stamped out in small packages - and given to people by the
gov't?
We don't have a program like that up here in socialist Canada.
We also don't have unemployment insurance programs that last 2 years, or
open-ended gov't funded employment disability programs up here in
socialist Canada, or programs that subsidize telco/cell phone service
(Obama phone). Or school lunch programs.
Um - can you explain again why we are socialist - and you are not?
"Economists say having a job may no longer be enough for
self-sufficiency in today's economy."
Such is life and times in the USA today.
This is what you get for illegally invading Iraq back in 2003. You can
trace this destruction of your economy back to that decision by the
puppet GW Monkey Bush and the neo-conservatives and oil cartels
controlling him.
==================================
Jan 26, 5:14 PM EST
The new face of food stamps: working-age Americans
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In a first, working-age people now make up the
majority in U.S. households that rely on food stamps - a switch from a
few years ago, when children and the elderly were the main recipients.
Some of the change is due 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 government
spending on the $80 billion-a-year food stamp program - twice what it
cost five years ago - may not subside significantly anytime soon.
Food stamp participation since 1980 has grown the fastest among workers
with some college training, a sign that the safety net has stretched
further to cover America's former middle class, according to an analysis
of government data for The Associated Press by economists at the
University of Kentucky. Formally called Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance, or SNAP, the program now covers 1 in 7 Americans.
The findings coincide with the latest economic data showing workers'
wages and salaries growing at the lowest rate relative to corporate
profits in U.S. history.
President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night is
expected to focus in part on reducing income inequality, such as by
raising the federal minimum wage. Congress, meanwhile, is debating cuts
to food stamps, with Republicans including House Majority Leader Eric
Cantor, R-Va., wanting a $4 billion-a-year reduction to an anti-poverty
program that they say promotes dependency and abuse.
Economists say having a job may no longer be enough for self-sufficiency
in today's economy.
"A low-wage job supplemented with food stamps is becoming more common
for the working poor," said Timothy Smeeding, an economics professor at
the University of Wisconsin-Madison who specializes in income
inequality. "Many of the U.S. jobs now being created are low- or
minimum-wage - part-time or in areas such as retail or fast food - which
means food stamp use will stay high for some time, even after
unemployment improves."
The newer food stamp recipients include Maggie Barcellano, 25, of
Austin, Texas. A high school graduate, she enrolled in college but
didn't complete her nursing degree after she could no longer afford the
tuition.
Hoping to boost her credentials, she went through emergency medical
technician training with the Army National Guard last year but was
unable to find work as a paramedic because of the additional
certification and fees required. Barcellano, now the mother of a
3-year-old daughter, finally took a job as a home health aide, working
six days a week at $10 an hour. Struggling with the low income, she
recently applied for food stamps with the help of the nonprofit Any Baby
Can, to help save up for paramedic training.
"It's devastating," Barcellano said. "When I left for the Army I was so
motivated, thinking I was creating a situation where I could give my
daughter what I know she deserves. But when I came back and basically
found myself in the same situation, it was like it was all for naught."
Since 2009, more than 50 percent of U.S. households receiving food
stamps have been adults ages 18 to 59, according to the Census Bureau's
Current Population Survey. The food stamp program defines non-elderly
adults as anyone younger than 60.
As recently as 1998, the working-age share of food stamp households was
at a low of 44 percent, before the dot-com bust and subsequent
recessions in 2001 and 2007 pushed new enrollees into the program,
according to the analysis by James Ziliak, director of the Center for
Poverty Research at the University of Kentucky.
By education, about 28 percent of food stamp households are headed by a
person with at least some college training, up from 8 percent in 1980.
Among those with four-year college degrees, the share rose from 3
percent to 7 percent. High-school graduates head the bulk of food stamp
households at 37 percent, up from 28 percent. In contrast, food stamp
households headed by a high-school dropout have dropped by more than
half, to 28 percent.
The shifts in food stamp participation come amid broader changes to the
economy such as automation, globalization and outsourcing, which have
polarized the job market. Many good-paying jobs in areas such as
manufacturing have disappeared, shrinking the American middle class and
bumping people with higher levels of education into lower-wage work.
An analysis Ziliak conducted for the AP finds that stagnant wages and
income inequality play an increasing role in the growth of food stamp
rolls.
Taking into account changing family structure, higher unemployment and
policy expansions to the food stamp program, the analysis shows that
stagnant wages and income inequality explained just 3.5 percent of the
change in food stamp enrollment from 1980 to 2011. But from 2000 to
2011, wages and inequality accounted for 13 percent of the increase.
Several economists say food stamp rolls are likely to remain elevated
for some time. Historically, there has been a lag before an improving
unemployment rate leads to a substantial decline in food stamp rolls;
the Congressional Budget Office has projected it could take 10 years.
"We do not expect income inequality stabilizing or declining in the
absence of real wage growth or a significant reduction in unemployment
and underemployment problems," said Ishwar Khatiwada, an economist for
the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University who
reviewed the Labor and Commerce departments' wage data.
Full- and part-time workers employed year-round saw the fastest growth
in food stamp participation since 1980, making up 17 percent and 7
percent of households, respectively. In contrast, the share of food
stamp households headed by an unemployed person has remained largely
unchanged, at 53 percent. Part-year workers declined in food stamp
share.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FOOD_STAMPS_INCOME_INEQUALITY