December 2020 Federal Spending Is At Risk Of Low Level

Federal funding for food stamps is the lowest since December 2020, as federal emergency subsidies for COVID-19 have been suspended.

Federal Spending ( Photo: Standard-Speaker )

Average monthly benefits were $386.17 per household, down from $470.96 per household in February

March is the last month available and the first month since additional COVID-19 supplements have been discontinued. Total federal spending on food stamps reached $8.6 billion in March, up from $10.5 billion in February according to the latest USDA data. There are currently 42.3 million SNAP recipients in the United States. California has the highest number of recipients with 5.2 million and Alaska has the lowest number of recipients with 29,000.

SNAP has been shown to have a significant impact on poverty reduction while still representing a portion of federal spending

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal program dedicated to solving hunger and food insecurity for low-income Americans. SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps are sent to families in need through debit cards that can be used to purchase groceries at retail stores. Many participants are eligible for SNAP benefits because they receive assistance from other federal programs, such as Supplemental Security Income and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Therefore, when determining benefits for an individual household, USDA calculates 30% of the household’s net income and deducts that amount from the maximum amount of benefits that the household is entitled to receive.

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