Illinois was the only state to see a double-digit year-over-year jump in food stamp use

by Ted Dabrowski     Food-stamp use rose 2.7% in the U.S. in February from a year earlier, with 15% of the U.S. population receiving benefits. The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reached 47.6 million, or nearly one in seven Americans. With more...

by Ted Dabrowski

Food-stamp use rose 2.7% in the U.S. in February from a year earlier, with 15% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.

The number of recipients in the food stamp program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reached 47.6 million, or nearly one in seven Americans.

With more Illinoisans still looking for work or dropping out of the labor force altogether, the number of people dependent on food stamps keeps rising.

Illinois’ pension crisis, high taxes, failed governance and poor business climate are creating an increase in government dependency, even as the national economy has shown signs of improvement since the end of the Great Recession.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that in February 2013, Illinois was the only state in the country to report a double-digit increase in the number of people signing up for food stamps.

SNAP is one of the federal government’s largest welfare programs – and the state’s enrollment in this program rose 10.5 percent in February 2013 when compared to enrollment numbers from one year ago.

Now more than 2 million Illinoisans, or 16 percent of the state’s population, are dependent on food stamps.

Not all states are reporting increases, however. Nine reported drops in the number of enrollees, including Missouri and Michigan.

And not all states have the same failed policies as Illinois. The state’s 9.5 percent unemployment rate, now two percentage points higher than the national average and second highest in the nation, is taking a toll on families and people looking for work. More than 1 million Illinoisans are now unemployed or underemployed. If Illinois matched the national unemployment rate of 7.5 percent, more than 130,000 Illinoisans back at work and off of government dependency.

Instead, Illinois’ pension crisis, high taxes, failed governance and poor business climate have fostered and expanded a cycle of government dependency, leading more of the state’s residents to become increasingly more reliant on federal support even as the national economy has shown signs of improvement since the end of the Great Recession.

But Illinoisans don’t need to depend on food stamps. They need stable jobs and real opportunities to better their families and prosper.

The Illinois Policy Institute has laid out a plan to end the fiscal and budgetary crisis in Illinois, a prerequisite to creating more jobs, attract investment and ultimately eliminate this cycle of government dependency. Change won’t be easy, but the current path is clearly failing the great people of Illinois.