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Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
Food stamp benefits average only about one dollar per person per meal (to be precise, the figure is $1.05 in 2007).
In addition, as a result of benefit cuts enacted as part of the 1996 welfare law, the purchasing power of most households' food stamp benefits is eroding in value each year.
The 1996 cut to the standard deduction continues to deepen with each passing year for households with one, two, or three members, even though the budget window in effect at the time of the 1996 welfare law (fiscal years 1997 through 2002) is over.
The 1996 welfare law also reduced the Food Stamp Program's maximum benefit level from 103 percent of the cost of USDA's "thrifty" food plan (TFP) to 100 percent of the TFP.
Specifically, a household's monthly food stamp benefits are equal to the maximum benefit for their household size (based on the cost of the thrifty food plan) minus 30 percent of the household's net income (its gross income minus deductions).
Posted on March 8, 2007 08:25 PM
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