The initial three months of the coronavirus pandemic saw an addition of upwards of six million new enrollments for food stamps. Experts are terming it an unanticipated expansion and have also warned that it is going to grow more in the months to come as countless people are facing joblessness and are on the verge of depleting their savings.
Recorded in the formal books as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, food stamps give support to all classes of the society and ensure that no person gets famished because of their financial conditions. This makes them the only thing that can be considered as a sort of guaranteed income. This program is administered by the states, while the payment of the benefits is made by the federal government. There is no spending cap on this program and it has helped US citizens avoid the delays in receiving the premium of their unemployment insurance.
As per the data collected by The New York Times, SNAP saw a growth of 17 percent from February to May. This was thrice as fast in any previous quarter. 41 out of the 42 states for which the data was collected showcased a growth in caseloads. Be it the countryside, urban agglomerations or the suburbs, this unprecedented increase in enrollments has been seen everywhere.
The devastating economical impacts of this pandemic has been rising more voraciously in rich counties as compared to the poorer ones as the affluent serving industries like cleaning, restaurant and gig economy jobs are the ones that are the worst hit.
