Face of food stamps under Obama changes from elderly to working age

The economy under President Obama has changed so dramatically that food stamps are no longer given mostly to the very old or the very young, but rather to working class and working age individuals.

One in seven Americans now receives food stamp assistance, most of whom had been children and the elderly until recent years, according to an analysis of government data for the Associated Press by economists at the University of Kentucky. But under Mr. Obama, the economy has stalled and job growth has remained stagnant, and those who have given up the search for work have been pushed to take food stamps to survive, the outlet found.

Some of the demographic change is due to couples having fewer children, the Associated Press said. Regardless, the fact that now working age people top the list of food stamp recipients is historic for the nation.

And the statistic suggests that the $80 billion taxpayers now pay for the program won’t be trimmed back any time soon. That $80 million is double the amount of money funneled to the program just five years ago.

Broken down further, the stats show that since 1980, the segment of the working population that’s seen the biggest jump in taking food stamps is the partially college educated, or America’s former middle class, according to the analysis.

“A low-wage job supplemented with food stamps is becoming more common for the working poor,” Timothy Smeeding, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told AP. “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.”