The following article, Thanks Biden: Families on Foods Stamps Are Getting Pummeled by Inflation, was first published on Big League Politics.
According to a recent report by the Urban Institute, high levels of inflation are negatively impacting what families could afford on federal food stamps in 2023.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) failed to cover the cost of an average meal in 98% of counties in 2023. This is significantly higher than the 21% gap experienced in 2021 owing to rampant food inflation, per the report. Food prices, on average, have risen 20.4% since Biden was installed in office in January 2021. This is higher than the overall inflation rate, which was pegged at 19.3% in that same time frame.
The Department of Agriculture adjusts SNAP benefits at the start of the fiscal year to account for cost of living increases, but due to rampant high inflation, changes to benefits were not able to be adjusted to fully cover the alarming levels of inflation, per the report.
In 2023, the average SNAP benefits were $49.29 lower than what monthly meals cost for an individual, falling $73.31 short in metropolitan areas and $44.38 short in rural areas, per the report. Urban areas experienced meal costs that were 28% higher than SNAP benefits by 2023’s end, while metro areas had a gap of 17%.
The inflation rate peaked at 9% under Biden in June 2022 and has since plummeted below 3%, most recently increasing 3.4% in the year as of April. In an effort to bring inflation down, the Federal Reserve pegged its federal funds rate to a range of 5.25% and 5.50%, which has increased the cost of debt across the economy, especially for Americans using credit cards to put food on the table.
As costs have been rising, Americans have been burning through their savings to make up the difference, with the total amount of savings held by Americans plummeting to $671 billion as of March 2024. For perspective, cumulative savings were over $1 trillion a year earlier.
The American economic situation is quite dire to say the least. The combination of rising taxes, mass inflation, and a crushing regulatory environment is making the economy stagnant, and as a result, impoverishing massive amounts of people. If the state is not downsized and the central banking system is not restrained, much less abolished, one can expect America to grow poorer over time.
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