Study: Half of U.S. Kids on Food Stamps

(CBS/AP)  Nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during childhood, and fallout from the current recession could push those numbers even higher, researchers say.

The estimate comes from an analysis of 30 years of national data, and it bolsters other recent evidence on the pervasiveness of youngsters at economic risk. It suggests that almost everyone knows a family who has received food stamps, or will in the future, said lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Your neighbor may be using some of these programs but it's not the kind of thing people want to talk about," Rank said.

The analysis was released Monday in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The authors say it's a medical issue pediatricians need to be aware of because children on food stamps are at risk for malnutrition and other ills linked with poverty.

"This is a real danger sign that we as a society need to do a lot more to protect children," Rank said.

Food stamps are a Department of Agriculture program for low-income individuals and families, covering most foods although not prepared hot foods or alcohol. For a family of four to be eligible, their annual take-home pay can't exceed about $22,000.

According to a USDA report released last month, 28.4 million Americans received food stamps in an average month in 2008, and about half were younger than age 18. The average monthly benefit per household totaled $222.

Rank and Cornell University sociologist Thomas Hirschl studied data from a nationally representative survey of 4,800 American households interviewed annually from 1968 through 1997 by the University of Michigan. About 18,000 adults and children were involved.

Overall, about 49 percent of all children were on food stamps at some point by the age of 20, the analysis found. That includes 90 percent of black children and 37 percent of whites. The analysis didn't include other ethnic groups.

The time span included typical economic ups and downs, including the early 1980s recession. That means similar portions of children now and in the future will live in families receiving food stamps, although ongoing economic turmoil may increase the numbers, Rank said.

An editorial in the medical journal agreed.

"The current recession is likely to generate for children in the United States the greatest level of material deprivation that we will see in our professional lifetimes," Stanford pediatrician Dr. Paul Wise wrote.

Wise said the Archives study estimate is believable.

"I find it terribly sad, but not surprising," Wise said.

James Weill, president of Food Research and Action Center, a Washington-based advocacy group, said the analysis underscores that "there are just very large numbers of people who rely on this program for a month, six months, a year."

"What I hope comes out of this study is an understanding that food stamp beneficiaries aren't them - they're us," Weill said.

The analysis is in line with other recent research suggesting that more than 40 percent of U.S. children will live in poverty or near-poverty by age 17; and that half will live at some point in a single-parent family. Also, other researchers have estimated that slightly more than half of adults will use food stamps at some point by age 65.

The study appearing in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine has some caveats, however. The data used was collected between 1968 and 1998. Extrapolating the older data to current conditions may or may not produce accurate results, and the assumptions used to draw lifetime frequencies from annual data, especially for subgroups, raises some questions.

[griffon49]

When are adults going to stop subjecting new children to the welfare system? I can understand people getting laid off and needing temporary help, but when it becomes a way of life, the adults are being downright abusive to innocent children.

[curse914]

by legacyABQ2 November 3, 2009 6:04 PM EST
ruby.

All those kids grow up to consume and pay taxes and serve in the military. Thats what u want, right?

So why complain?

[][][][][][]

The necessity of exponential and perpetual consumption is why you will see our economic system either radically change or implode. Remember those food surpluses of the 1990's, they are no more for a reason.

[Imlistening]

The headline is grossly misleading. At any point in a persons life up until the time they're twenty? (That's three years of adulthood tacked on to the end there folks.) This article is not journalism. One half of the children in the U.S., right now, today, at this very second, are not on food stamps. The actual number of food stamp recipients is readily available. Chick it yourself. I did.

[diamruby]

Women should only bring into this world the children that they personally can provide for, because we all know that when problems arise in the marriage & we divorce the children are our responsibility & the man feels like he should not have to support them as we were the ones that wanted the children in the first place. I do not care what color your skin is that has no bearing on anything. Divorce is one of the best things women have ever had available to them, no more living with a man that thinks marriage means ownership of us so we are under his rule, meaning abuse of all kinds etc. The women of the past that stayed with her husband even though she was abused wasted her life, staying in a bad marriage is bad for children also. You can look to other countries that are ruled by religious cults & see how females are nothing more than personal sex slaves & we also have that here in the US in the polyogamny communities. What I really think is that women need to take care of themselves & do not count on any man being there to take care of you or your children.

[heavynne]

You people on here screaming about paying for other people to eat are so ignorant. I work everyday and pay taxes (by the way I am black), my friends and relatives (who are black) work also. Do you really want the rest of us to believe that you are paying this big chunk out of your taxes. I doubt it. The truth of the matter is you pay taxes for a lot of things. The amount you pay for each thing is probably under 5 to 10 dollars, so stop trying to sound like your little money is taking care of a family. By the way, 90% black isn't that much, because if you are so into these ficticious statistics, blacks only make up 13% of the whole. If we did not have welfare, we would be a third world country because it is very illogical to believe that every adult in this country could have jobs. That is totally ridiculous.

[lovenpeace1]

A Divided Empire eventually ceases to exist.

Amazing how Democracy and Capitalism will Self-Destruct without any outside forces. The party's survival is more important than the interest of our beloved nation. If America is not already a 3rd world country, then I do not know what is a 3rd world country.

Someone once said "We are our only worst enemy".

[diamruby]

We need to change the tax structure so that the breeders of the world pay extra taxes for each child they produce. These breeders pay no federal or state taxes, live off of the rest of us, their children have far more mental & health problems due to their homelife. All welfare mothers should be sterilized after the delivery of the first child. There are breeders having as many as 13 children on welfare!!! If the cult churches wish for their members to breed like rabbits then they should be paying for that & their total support for life. What is wrong with women that they want to bring a child into this world with no way to care for it? Why do drug users & homless people want children? Why do the churches want children to come into a life of filth, hunger & abuse? We need to stop enabling these people, make them responsible for once in their life. All churches, which are big businesses, need to start paying taxes, if everyone paid the same tax per dollar without any deductions then we would all be paying equal & all have health insurance. There needs to be programs for them to work in public gardens for food, mandatory eduction & self help programs to get them ready for work. The working class people are being strangled by all of the taxes & high health insurance premiums we must pay because there are so many people on the take. Welfare should be a short term help for those helping themselves.

[lovenpeace1]

Hey diamruby,

Americans have the Highest Divorce Rate in the world at 58% within 5 years.

You said nothing about bringing the 'Male' back into the family institution.

I wonder if Divorce was not that easy and not the 1st option, the family would be united and happy with a progressive mission?

I wonder if a Career was not more important than a family?

America is an Empire in the Decaying phase. All Empires raised and fell by themselves without any outside forces.

[Empire-George]

by pubsruineverything November 3, 2009 2:32 AM EST
You know what would fix this problem?
More tax breaks for the wealthy
______________

How about a war on poverty ? oh, right been there.....spent that

[jxknowles]

I hope the study is flawed, but if there ever was an eye-opener, this would be it. This country has been bleeding jobs and self-sufficiency for years. We need to produce as a country. Putting all the money and tax breaks into the hands of a few, at the expense of the many, has been a recipe for disaster.

[Dgunner]

The governoer of my state wanted to increase property tax on the fedral tax base for native americans.The state represenatives told him . That would be great for the hiways and sewer projects. The raise in taxes will also put 279000 indians at the front door of the local food stamp offices where now they are happy like things are why wake up a otherwise sleeping behemoth .