Recession Bites the Poor

At least "from a technical perspective," as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in September, some economists believe the recession is very likely over.

But a study released this week emphasized high levels of poverty among children in the United States — a problem that has long been pervasive in the country, even during positive economic times, public policy analysts say.

The study in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that nearly half of all U.S. children and 90 percent of black youth will be on food stamps at some point in childhood, and the most recent recession could push the numbers up.

The findings come from an analysis of 30 years of national data in a time span of economic highs and lows, including the early 1980s recession.

Researchers did not separate data for Latino children because the sample of cases included in the study when it began in 1968 was too small, said Mark Rank, lead author of the study and a professor of social welfare at Washington University in St. Louis.

But Rank estimates the number of children along the Texas-Mexico border expected to be on food stamps during childhood is as high as that of black children.

"It is a real wake up call to America," Rank said. "Children in the United States have higher levels of poverty than in other industrial nations. This is an issue we have not been paying nearly enough attention to in terms of social policy."

The findings are especially troubling for Texas, where demand for food stamps has risen dramatically in the latest economic downturn, policy analysts said.

The Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas agency in charge of distributing food stamps, has been backlogged for months throughout the Lone Star State, particularly in large cities such as Houston and Dallas, said Celia Hagert, senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin.

The state’s health commission made large staffing cuts when — under a state Legislature plan — it undertook a major effort in 2005 to privatize the food stamp eligibility system. But the pilot program did not work and, although the state’s health agency has since then cut ties with privatization, it has been shorthanded and struggling ever since, Hagert said.

"Some families have to wait up to six months to receive food stamps and other benefits" when the processing deadline for applications is 30 days and in emergency cases only seven days, Hagert said.

The state’s health agencies in the Valley have not seen major problems, said Stephanie Goodman, spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

"We have had really high demand (for food stamps traditionally) in the Valley, and we adjusted to the work flow along time ago," Goodman said.

Hunger and poverty go hand and hand and higher levels of poverty in an area, such as in the Rio Grande Valley, tend to signify a greater need for food stamps, said Rogelio Saenz, a sociology professor at Texas A&M who recently conducted a study of poverty along the Texas-Mexico border.

The poverty rate for children under 17 years old along the state’s southern border tends to be near 40 percent — with Cameron County at 46.4 percent and Hidalgo County at 46 percent, Saenz said.

The food stamp program, which had its name changed to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in October 2008, is a U.S. Department of Agriculture program for low-income individuals and families, covering most foods except prepared hot foods and alcohol. For a family of four to be eligible, its net annual income cannot exceed $22,056.

About 58.2 percent of the 107,671 food stamp recipients in Cameron County are children under 17, while in Hidalgo the percent is 59.8 out of 216, 510 recipients.

The recent study shows a conservative estimate of the need that it is out there; the actual number of children in need is even greater because only about 60 percent of all the people eligible for food stamps actually get the program, Rank said. Many do not apply for a variety of reasons, he said.

"They may not know about it," he said. "Or in parts of rural Texas, for example, a social service agency may be a long way out."

The study also found that children who have a head of household with less than 12 years of education, or who reside in a "non-married household," tend to have a greater chance of using the food stamp program during childhood.

For most families, however, the use of the food stamp program is episodic, usually only from a few months to a year.

"That so many kids are one step away from poverty, and in need of this program, is an indicator of how difficult it is for so many people in our country to make ends meet," Hagert said. "The takeaway message is that this is something that can happen to anyone, at no fault of their own."

Number of recipients of food stamps by county

Cameron 107, 671

Hidalgo 216, 510

Webb 69,798

El Paso 165, 502

Percent of recipients under 17 years of age

Cameron 58.2

Hidalgo 59.8

Webb 60.5

El Paso 53.1

Source: Center for Public Policy Priorities