Country Wrestles With Spike In Food Stamp Use

Even as demand rises, cutting program becomes an option for debt hawks

NEW YORK — Genna Saucedo supervises cashiers at a Wal-Mart in Pico Rivera, Calif., but her wages aren't enough to feed herself and her 12-year-old son.

Saucedo, who earns $9.70 an hour for about 26 hours a week and lives with her mother, is one of the many Americans who survive because of government handouts in what has rapidly become a food stamp nation.

Altogether, there are now almost 46 million people in the United States on food stamps, roughly 15 percent of the population. That's an increase of 74 percent since 2007, just before the financial crisis and a deep recession led to mass job losses.

More