Half of US Kids Will Get Food Stamps at Some Point

One in 6 Americans now in federal anti-poverty programs

(NEWSER) - The recession has sent a record one in six Americans into federal anti-poverty programs, according to a new USA Today survey. More than 50 million are now enrolled in Medicaid, a number that has jumped 17% since the recession’s official start in December 2007. “Virtually every Medicaid director in the country would say that their current enrollment is the highest on record,” said one health pollster. And that doesn’t count the 16 million more who’ll enroll when the health care reform law takes effect in 2014. More»

Why the backlash over access to healthy food?

(NEWSER) - There's been quite the backlash against hipsters buying fancy organic fare with their food stamps, but one such hipster argues that “cheap food is the real extravagance.” Gerry Mak—a subject of the recent Salon article —points out that "a whole rabbit at Lexington Market is $10, feeds at least four people, and is healthier than factory-farmed chicken,” he writes on Salon . “Why is it such a travesty that food stamp recipients have access to quality, healthy food?” More»

Stimulus package makes more young people eligible for benefits

(NEWSER) - Food stamps are for the poor, no matter if you’re a single mother or a destitute hipster. Salon checks in on the growing number of young, unemployed, college-educated foodies who qualify for stamps and use them for organic delicacies along with staples. One UChicago grad says he “used to think that you could only get processed food and government cheese.” Not so. “You can get anything.” More»

(NEWSER) - Families are traveling more often, and recession-battered hotels are ramping up their kid-friendly offerings, the Boston Globe reports. Rooms occupied by families with children accounted for 27% of the total in 2008, up from 25% in 2004, and lodgings are watching the trend. Whether it's free Wii, a dog to walk, or a theme guest room, the trend is picking up and is no longer relegated to just the summer months. More»

Slip into poverty a grim economic indicator

(NEWSER) - In an economic indicator that paints a grim future for swaths of the US population, an all-time record 28 million Americans are expected to be close enough to poverty to receive $36 billion in food stamps in the coming fiscal year, reports the New York Times. There is a surge in recipients in 40 states, with 14 already reporting a record count last year. More»