Food stamp roll swells in Georgia | www.myajc.com

Four years after the end of the recession, the economy has been growing, employers have been hiring and the number of people relying on food stamps in Georgia has been going … up.

A year ago, the program provided food assistance to a record 1.91 million people in the state, nearly one-quarter of them six years old or younger. By this June, the program had added 40,000 more recipients, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Those numbers have nearly doubled since the economy slid into recession in late 2007.

Georgia suffered more than most states and is still hundreds of thousands of jobs below its pre-recession levels. Moreover, many jobs that have been added are low-paying positions. About 58 percent of working-age recipients are working.

Meanwhile, Georgia has surged from having the 15th-highest proportion of food stamp recipients to sixth-highest.

via Food stamp roll swells in Georgia | www.myajc.com.