(Reuters) -
Saucedo, who earns $9.70 an hour for about 26 hours a week and lives with her mother, is one of the many Americans who survive because of government handouts in what has rapidly become a food stamp nation.
Altogether, there are now almost 46 million people in the United States on food stamps, roughly 15 percent of the population. That's an increase of 74 percent since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession led to mass job losses.
While there are clearly some cases of abuse by people who claim food stamps but don't really need them, for many Americans like Saucedo there is little current alternative if they are to put food on the table while paying rent and utility bills.
"It's kind of sad that even though I'm working that I need to have government assistance. I have asked them to please put me on full-time so I can have benefits," said the 32-year-old.
So are her customers. Bill Simon, head of Wal-Mart's U.S. operations, told a conference call last Tuesday that the company had seen an increase in the number of shoppers relying on government assistance for food.
In some parts of the country, shoppers using food stamps have almost become the norm.
In May 2011, a third of all people in Alabama were on food stamps.
Washington D.C., Mississippi, New Mexico, Oregon and Tennessee all had about a fifth of their population on food stamps that month.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011...E77L45Z20110822
Please China, save us.
The majority of the problems are caused by the high cost of rent and housing. If that was resolved it would solve lots of problems.
Things are only really getting harder because power of wages is staying stagnent but rents is still high.
Top 1% had income rise by 125% share of pie since 1980. Bottom 20% had income drop 30% share of pie
The rich are stealing money from the poor, that much is certain.
Im shocked
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