The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reporting that the number of Americans receiving food stamps is at a six-year low since President Donald Trump took office.
In its annual report on government food assistance in the U.S., the USDA revealed that the number of people on food stamps fell by about 2 million in 2017. According to the report, around 42.2 million Americans relied on Supplemental Nutritional Assistant Program help for that year.
“Federal spending for SNAP totaled $68.0 billion or 4 percent less than in the previous fiscal year,” USDA reported. “This was also 15 percent less than the historical high of $79.9 billion set in FY 2013.”
In 2013, a record number of Americans were receiving food stamps.
While it’s likely that falling unemployment and a gradually improving economy are partially responsible for getting Americans off food stamps, state-level reforms requiring childless adults to prove employment for food stamp benefits among other things also played a role.
Food stamp usage in places like Alabama and Georgia dropped by double digit percentages in some cases following initiation of the reforms.
The Obama administration allowed states to waive things like work requirements as part of the 2009 stimulus package– but a package of welfare reforms being pushed by the Trump White House would reinstate and stiffen the requirements.
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