In April, a safety net unraveled for hundreds of thousands of Americans when a federal provision linking food assistance to a work requirement eliminated many people’s access to supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP) benefits.
Since the provision came into effect on April 1, SNAP participation rates have dramatically decreased. New data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that, in April alone, SNAP participation declined by 773,000 people—the largest single-month drop, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, since temporary disaster relief benefits ended for Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005.
Broadly speaking, dwindling SNAP participation denotes good things for the economy: during the height of the recession, the number of people receiving food stamp benefits rose drastically, peaking in December 2012 at 47.8 million. Participation rates have since fallen by 4.2 million as the job market regained its footing; caseloads are now at their lowest since 2010.
[For more of this story, written by Eillie Anzilotti, go to http://www.citylab.com/politic...a-good-thing/491516/]
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