Half of U.S. kids will receive food stamps

Some say that this is too high. I say their are more in this country that need food stamps and dont get them.

I have no problem with the food stamp program in general, but I do have a problem with this fact itself, the world's richest country and here we now have almost half of our children on food stamps. What in the hell is going on here? Globalization, the loss of good-paying non-degree jobs especially in manufacturing, foreign interests owning more of our country each day and the fact our country is now run by corporations and not we the people, has crippled us at so many levels. The two-party system needs to be defeated, I so wish Nader was our president now, this thing called "change" he would of brought. I'll give Obama another year on the economy, but this war crap needs to end this month. I remember a shirt my very liberal aunt use to wear, it said "It will be a great day when the military has to hold bake sales to buy their bombs." It was of course in reference to the bloated budget we allow our military to waste on unnecessary wars and material while the children of this country struggle to get an decent education, healthy food and the needed clothing and materials. I think the biggest problem our country has other than our corrupt two-party system is our love of war, without this love we'd have the ability to fund so many things, one of them being a single-payer health care system. We need a real revolution, and maybe like our last it will only be the 3% fighting it.

I wonder how many parents will be satisfying their fixes with food stamps, whatever they may be. I hear the going rate for food stamps is one fourth face value here in Memphis these days.

I don't even have to read this to feel so ashamed of it... why can't we feed our own people? I don't get it at all....

this is clearly "SOCIALIZED" hunger, and poverty prevention so it must be bad for our country when all this money can instead be going to corporate salaries, bailouts, or another war....

You'd be surprised at what kinds of people actually use food stamps.

I was raised by a single working mom who was a full time nurse, and we qualified for food stamps. It's not just dirt poor people who are eligible for welfare.

It's just now that the economy is rough, people are seeking ways to save money.

they are there to help people through hard times. and i have no problem with that. my problem is with people who lie about their income, (and amazingly also have a coke habit and/or can afford to go out to the bars ever other night), and have wage earning boyfriends living with them under the table, but live for years off food stamps, and housing and daycare vouchers. these are the people who have $100 shoes in ever color and dress their kids in designer clothes. they are eating up the resources for people who need them on a temporary basis, and attaching an unflattering stigma to people who need to put healthy food on the table.

my family is rich poverty. we live in a nice neighborhood, and my car is under ten years old. and ramen noodles are a staple in this house. my kids eat a lot of toast, fresh fruit, and boxed chicken nuggets. i regularly count change to pay for groceries. my husband works at least 50 hours per week, and i can't get a job that will pay me enough to cover a babysitter. food stamps would be a godsend. i can't remember the last time i bought meat. but we make too much money as a married couple with two small kids.

this didn't happen overnight. it took years to get to this point and how sad is that!

i think the estimate is a little high but atleast they will be fed.

That is pathetic. That is really, really sad. The American dream really is over, isn't it.

I would beleive this statistic, and as was pointed out above; most don't necissarily "need" them. They choose to get them because they qualify, and it lowers the burden imposed on them by something they chose to create.

I don't hate children, just taxes. Ok, I don't really like other people's children either.

Perhaps ending the marriage penalty tax would allow parents to buy more food for their children.

We had better start here before we help anybody else !

so are we ready for a new system yet or is it ok that half of kids in this country will live off scraps at some point in our life. Man, even hunter gatherers shared the spoils of the hunt with everyone....

what do those taste like?

tangibleparadox probably said it best.
Just because your on food stamps doesnt mean youre dirt poor.

My family was on food stamps for a while when my baby sis was born. Its not that we absolutly needed them but they provided TREMENDOUS assistance for my single mom, my lil bro, newborn sister and myself.

Our nation should be ashamed of this statistic. the wealthiest nation on the planet and we cannot afford to feed our children. We are slowly becoming a third world country with only two types of people, the haves and the have nots.

America - the new third world nation.

I think that this just goes to show how close so many people are to needing a little help. we dont live in a culture where its safe to tell others that we are in need, nor do we take care of our neighbors very well. Glad that there are programs out there to lend a little hand when the going gets tough. too bad we cut these kinds programs all the time.
figures like these really normalize the hardships and prove that no one is alone.

So is it more the lack of employment that will put kids on food stamps or that the parents who get on food stamps are having a lot more kids than those who aren't?

"Although one in five children rely on food stamps for years, many more live in families who turn to food stamps during a short-term crisis... "That's effectively like saying that at some point in a 20-year period, a parent would be unemployed for a month or so," Rector says."

not overly concerned. i'd like to know the percentages of the periods of time spent using food stamps.

Does this tell you how good the world is doing and how many good paying jobs there are in the world. So I guess I'm not a minority as much as I thought I was? I don't believe it's going to be that bad? that's not real! I doubt it gonna happen, but you never know what's gonna happen next or in the future anymore.

Don't know where this study came from, but it's absolutely impossible. This is America for Chrissakes. Children don't starve here!!!

Yep.

WOW, I hope that estimate proves to be at least a little high.