SNAP STILL NEEDED AS FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT LAGS

 

Why, as critics note, did SNAP enrollment continue rising after 2009, even as the unemployment rate began to fall?  Because, it’s not unusual for poverty and hardship to continue rising even after unemployment peaks. The unemployment rate has been a relatively poor indicator of the state of the labor market, for two main reasons. First, it doesn’t include the many people who would like to work full time but can only find part-time work and those who have dropped out of the job market altogether in a weak labor market. The Labor Department estimates that 22 million Americans who want to work either don’t have a job or can find only part-time work. Second, the unemployment rate doesn’t tell us about long-term unemployment—people out of work for at least 27 weeks —which remains historically high.  With the deep and prolonged recession and weak recovery, SNAP has become increasingly valuable as one of the few resources available for long-term unemployed, part-time, and discouraged workers.

 

Source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/`7/13, SNAP & Jobs