Seattle's Child Magazine: Nearly Half of US Children Will Be on Food Stamps

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Published: Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Nearly Half of US Children Will Be on Food Stamps

The Associated Press

Almost half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youngsters will be on food stamps at some point during their childhood, according to a new estimate based on three decades of national data.

What's worse: The fallout from the ongoing economic downturn could push those numbers even higher.

The research, published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, suggests that almost everyone knows a family that's received food stamps or will in the future, says lead author Mark Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis.

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

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