More children received food stamps in 2014 than before the start of the Great Recession.
The number of kids who receive food stamps in 2014 passed the 16 million mark for the first time since the U.S. Census Bureau started publishing the statistic in 2007, the government agency said Wednesday.
Prior to the economic recession that began in 2007, just one in eight — or roughly nine million — children were receiving food stamp assistance, compared to the one in five now on the program.
The number of children receiving food stamps living with a single mother has also nearly doubled from 2007 to 2014, from 5.5 million to 8.1 million, the data shows.
Prior to the economic recession
In each category of children receiving food stamps by living arrangement — be it living with mother only, father only, married parents, two unmarried parents or no parent present — the number has increased from 2007 to 2014.
The Census Bureau believes there could be a correlation between a high number of children receiving food stamps and a low number of children living in owner-occupied homes.
From 2007 to 2014, home ownership has dropped from 68 to 61 percent, data shows.
“Not only is homeownership a key asset and financial investment for many families, it also plays an important role in the stability of children’s lives,” Emily Schondelmyer, a demographer with the Census Bureau, said in a blog post Wednesday.
