Food Stamp Spending Still 73 Percent Higher Than Before Pandemic

Federal spending on food stamps continues to skyrocket after the COVID-19 pandemic, despite economic recovery. The federal government is projected to spend $110 billion on food stamps in fiscal year (FY) 2025 under current policy – a 73 percent increase from FY 2019. Food stamp spending figures were taken from the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office. In theory food stamp spending should coincide with national poverty levels, yet here they do not come close. The number of impoverished people from FY 2019 – FY 2025 is expected to increase by 14 percent, while food stamp spending will increase by a drastic 73 percent. The rise in poverty was estimated using the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent poverty rate along with the Congressional Budget Office’s 2025 demographic projections. The main issue here is not simply that we have yet to return to pre-pandemic spending levels – it is that the money is going to a program that discourages independence and human dignity. According to EPIC’s Director of Budget Policy, Matthew Dickerson, the percentage of people on food stamps skyrocketed in recent years along with the amount of time spent in the program, all while work requirements slipped. Dickerson also found that between 2017 and 2019, 62 percent of work-capable recipients did not work. Congress should stop pouring billions of more taxpayer dollars into a system that traps able-bodied people in cycles of dependency. It should instead use these resources to provide healthier food options to those who genuinely cannot provide for themselves and reinvent the system to ultimately encourage independence for those who need a short-term safety net.