PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A study of food stamps in Oregon shows the Great Recession spreading poverty into mom-and-dad households that had been part of the middle class.
The study from Oregon State University researchers compares first-time food stamp users in the recession year 2009 and in 2005, a better year for the state’s economy.
The study shows outsize increases in such categories as adult males who had lost manufacturing and construction jobs and households that hadn’t used food stamps.
Although the number of households headed by single women outnumbered those headed by two adults, the study reported the number of two-adult households going on food stamps was 50 percent greater in 2009 than in 2005, while the number of single-female households was up by 37 percent.
