In a sign of the deepening effects of the Second Great Depression, 42.9 million Americans were forced to rely on food stamps in September. That number was up 1.2 percent from the prior month and 16.2 percent higher than it was a year ago.
Nationwide, 14 percent of the population relied on food stamps but in many states the percentage was much higher. In the nation’s capital, Mississippi, and Tennessee, more than a fifth of the population was collecting food stamps. Texas (with 3.8 million people), California (3.5 million), and New York (2.9 million) had the highest absolute numbers.
And food stamps are the only thing keeping many of them going. As previously reported, a growing number of Americans live in households with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card.
