5/21/13
This week the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board discussed the massive increase in food stamp usage in Illinois (as discussed by the Chicago Magazine).
"The number of TANF recipients in Illinois has risen by 21 percent in the last 10 years, from 108,528 people in 2003 to 131,497."
That's a 21% increase of citizens not able to find suitable employment to provide for food for themselves and their families.
"Participation rates are much higher than they were 10 years ago. In other words, not everyone who's eligible actually bothers to receive food stamps. In 2003, the national rate was 56 percent. In 2010, it was 75 percent nationwide and 80 percent in Illinois. (In 2010, only five states had participation rates over 90 percent.)"
20% INCREASE
"In 2003, around 1.5 million people in Illinois were eligible, and around 60 percent participated. In 2010, the most recent year for which estimates are available, around two million people were eligible, and around 80 percent participated."
"The unemployment rate in Illinois in January 2003 was 6.6 percent; in January 2013 it was nine percent, with almost 200,000 more people unemployed than ten years ago."
It is understandable for those who need assistance with feeding their families, however, with HIGH unemployment of 9.3-to-9.5% handing our Illinois families cash for food (i.e. Food Stamps) doesn't make these Representatives special... It's just the opposite... These Representatives have failed the citizens of District 86, who can no longer find employment and afford to eat. This is an epic failure.
District 86 Citizens Deserve Better Than Larry Walsh Jr.!
ALSO READ:
[1] Under Larry Walsh Jr.'s Watch Illinois Has 2nd Worst Unemployment in the Nation!
[2] Illinois Is One of the TOP 5 Worst States in the Nation for FREEDOM!
[3] Teen Unemployment An Ongoing Problem in District 86 Joliet Illinois!
