The Welfare States of America: Government food aid recipients now outnumber full-time private sector workers

Friday, July 19, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: food aid, taxpayer money, entitlement programs

(NaturalNews) For the first time in history, the number of people in the United States receiving assistance from the federal government to pay for food has exceeded the number of full-time, private sector workers, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Based on the latest available figures, the overall number of food welfare recipients today exceeds the number of regular working folks by nearly four million, and the gap is continuing to widen.

An ominous foretelling of America's dire future, the more than 101 million people in America currently receiving government food aid represent nearly one third of the overall U.S. population. Comparatively, less than one third of the entire U.S. population, or roughly 97 million people, currently has a viable, full-time job, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and this figure has been on the decline in recent years.

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that a total of 101,000,000 people currently participate in at least one of the 15 food programs offered by the agency, at a cost of $114 billion in fiscal year 2012," explains one report on the announcement. "Of the 101 million receiving food benefits, a record 47 million Americans participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps."

What this all means, of course, is that our once great nation, built by hard-working, innovative, and creative individuals from all walks of life, has devolved into one of the worst kinds of nanny states imaginable. Sure, there are still millions of honest, industrious people that are actually producing things and contributing positively to society. But these folks are increasingly having to bear the load of the welfare crowd, the ranks of which are constantly expanding.

"As noted, John Q Public has been reduced to 'either a mouth to be fed, a pocket to be picked, or a political obstacle to be finessed, nothing more,'" writes Debra Heine for Breitbart.com about this unraveling of American society.

Many welfare recipients now have higher 'incomes' than the actual workers subsidizing their handouts

And how right she is, as the average "poor" household on government assistance today now receives about $168 per day from taxpayers, according to a recent report by TownHall.com. These welfare payments, which cover not only food costs but also housing, childcare, and healthcare, average out to about $30 per hour for a 40 work week, which is far more than what millions of working individuals and families make per week.

"The median wage for non-welfare recipients is $25 per hour but because they pay taxes, unlike welfare recipients, the wage is bumped down to $21 per hour," writes Katie Pavlich for TownHall.com. "Taxpayers are no longer simply helping the poor, they're subsidizing the lives of welfare recipients at a better rate than their own."

In other words, the working class is now collectively forking over more of its earnings to sustain the welfare class, and much of this is being distributed in the form of food stamps and other food assistance. And if this trend continues, society will eventually reach a breaking point in which there are no longer enough actual contributors to support all the takers.

"[F]or increasingly more it is now more lucrative -- in the form of actual disposable income -- to sit, do nothing, and collect various welfare entitlements, than to work," explains ZeroHedge.com. "For every 1.25 employed persons in the private sector, 1 person receives welfare assistance or works for the government."

Sources for this article include:

http://www.breitbart.com

http://townhall.com

http://www.zerohedge.com