These charts show the number of Americans receiving food stamps as reported by the United States Department of Agriculture. The total is now 46.3 million, which is more than the entire populations of many large nations.
The first chart shows monthly totals over the last several years (click charts to enlarge):
The second chart shows annual totals back to 1975:
Since the year 2000, the annual total has only declined once, in 2007.
The next chart shows the number of people added to the food-stamps program each month:
The spike in May 2011 was due to a surge in Alabama after an historic onslaught of giant tornadoes devastated the state. According to the USDA’s report, about 1 million disaster victims from several states were added to the rolls.
The decline in June 2011 was the first monthly decline since February 2008.
The next chart compares our food-stamp population to the total populations of selected nations:
The next chart shows the breakdown of participants by race (see table A.21 of this USDA report):
The next chart shows the number of individuals added to, or subtracted from, the food stamp rolls highlighted by presidential administration:
The next chart shows the numerical totals for each president. Keep in mind that not all presidents were in office for the same number of years. President Obama’s total is for the first three years of his administration:
When China was admitted to the World Trade Organization in 2001, tariffs were lowered, and it became very profitable for American companies to relocate production to China’s sweatshops. Millions of American jobs were lost, and those former workers have piled up on the food-stamp rolls:
Note: The annual totals used above are based on the federal government’s fiscal year, which begins in October.
Note: The USDA reports monthly food-stamp data with a two month delay.
Latest data: February 2, 2012
Next update: March 1, 2012
[...] stamp distribution under Obama has risen to heights never seen before. Somehow Levenstein and Mittelstad believe the policies of Obama driving more [...]
I crunched the demographic numbers at the US Census. While most food stamp recipients are White 63.7% and only 12.2% Black, when compared to the entire demographic, only 7% Whites are on food stamps and 24% Blacks are on food stamps. Further, your chart of the dramatic increase in the last 3 years, clearly shows that “Obama is the Food Stamp President”.