Why the Recovery is Really a Contraction

Why the Recovery is Really a Contraction

Families Take Up Food Stamps as Wages Shrink

The number of working Americans turning to free government food stamps has
surged as their hours and wages erode....

...some 40 percent of the families on food stamps have 'earned income,' up
from 25 percent two years ago.

The agriculture department, which runs the programme, attributes this rise
to workers having their hours cut back.

"I'm sort of stunned, it seems like a dire warning...that even the jobs
people are retaining in this recession aren't at thewage level and hours
level they need to provide for their families" said Heidi Shierholz,
economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

...The average working week is now about 33 hours, the lowest on record,
while the number forced to work part-time has risen more than 50 percent in
the past year to a record 8.8 million.