Think things are getting better? Think again. Food stamp usage is actually up from the latest data. As of June 2012, 46,670,373 people are on food stamps in the United States. That's 14.9% or less than 1 in 7 people are on food assistance. The United States population in June 2012 was 314,067,000 and this figure includes everyone, including people overseas. Food stamp usage increased 3.3% from June 2011 and 0.4% from May 2012.
Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.
53.6% of New College Grads are Jobless or Underemployed in 2011
Dr. Andrew Sum crunched the numbers and for those graduating from college with a Bachelors we have some startling news. A whopping 53.6% of those under the age of 25 who have a college degree are either unemployed or unable to land a job in a field associated with their college major. Associated Press:
If you watch most media you'd never guess what's the real America. From television shows where minimum wage jobs pay rent on $2000 a month flats, to families who never seem to run out of money or get foreclosed on, to messages of if only you follow some green line you'll have enough money for retirement, a never ending weave of fiction is spun. Like prey in the spider's web of tall tales, we're stunned and hypnotized into no longer seeing the poverty and despair all around us.
by Zach Carter, Media Consortium MediaWire Blogger
The U.S. economy lost nearly 600,000 jobs in January, bringing total losses in the past three months over 1.5 million—more than the entire population of Philadelphia. If there ever was a good time to mend the tattered U.S. social safety net, it's now. While unemployment benefits and food stamps remain relatively uncontroversial, basic welfare continues to be neglected by the general media and vilified by the right. And as of this moment, a responsible welfare program is needed more than at any point since the 1930s.
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