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Study shows more of Washington state’s children are going hungry
Four years of a down economy has hurt families and increased hunger nationwide. Washington is no different. The state now has higher rates of food insecurity than the national average.
Surveys collected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2011 found that hunger has increased from 14.6 percent of households to 14.9 percent nationwide, the highest level since the survey began in 1995. For families with children, including single-parent families, the national rate of hunger is about 30 percent.
Among African-American households nationwide, 25.1 percent experienced food insecurity; 26.2 percent of Hispanic households around the country experienced food insecurity.
Washington is worse than the national average when it comes to hunger rates, with 15.4 percent of households experiencing food insecurity and
25 percent of all children lacking sufficient food. More than 440,000 children in Washington are food insecure according to data from the USDA in early September. More people in this state are going hungry.
Since 2008, 75,000 households in Washington have joined the ranks of those experiencing food insecurity, according to Children’s Alliance.
The numbers come as the Senate and House negotiate the renewal of the Farm Bill, which includes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. The current proposals for the Farm Bill would cut $90 per month from food stamp benefits for 230,000 Washington families.
The data was collected from 43,770 households across the country.
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