Who's using food stamps

Food stamps are once again in the news, as a result of the farm bill's passage last week.  I collected and published some information the last time it came 'round; here's the recap. Details from the SNAP program annual reportage, here: http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/snapmain.htm.  Assembled into usable form here: http://www.jrandrews.org/politics/snap_program.ods.

The annual report is interesting because it helps characterize who the users are, how long they stay in the program, and what the different categories include.  Note that the "welfare queens" we hear about in the news actually are one of the cohorts discussed in the report, though they're not called by that loaded name.

Overall statistical graphs; note once again the astonishing efficiency of the program.

participation:

efficiency: