Food stamp use growing among college educated

[caption id="attachment_22561" align="alignleft" width="150"] food stamp program[/caption]

In the new economy many of the big users of food stamps are college graduates or have some college training.  Is this because the folks are particularly bright because they went to college so they can scam the system with aplomb?  No, it's because more and more young people with sheepskin can't find jobs.  Or they are starting out with jobs that pay so little or are part time, so they fall at the level of subsistence where they qualify for food stamps.  And still others have fallen through the cracks during the recession and its aftermath.

Five percent of those who use food stamps are college graduates.  28% have some college training.

It's a sad commentary on affairs, with everyone wanting a son or daughter to attend college, that without specialization many young people end up working in service positions, as clerks somewhere, many in the same kind of jobs they could have had when they finished high school.  Many young people end up being unable to find jobs and are saddled with debt.

To add insult to injury, the cost of college is getting more and more costly, so many young people end up with the kind of debt they can't get out from under, since student loans have to be paid back and can't be erased by bankruptcy.

The next time you believe some commentator that the welfare mother is at it again, trying to have a bunch of babies to live on the dole and collect food stamps and live the easy life.  Think again, because that person in the front of the line might be your neighbor's son or daughter, just trying to get by until they can find a job that pays something more so he or she isn't forced to live on so little they qualify for food stamps.  And it turns out they will be getting less, because the new farm bill would cut food stamps by 1%.