People on food stamps have been receiving a little extra in their monthly payments thanks to the economic stimulus package passed in 2009.
But Friday, November 1, those extra benefits end.
More than a million and half people across North Carolina rely on food assistance from the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP. That’s 17.7% of the population.
The economic stimulus package increased food assistance benefits to help ease the hardship caused by the recession. But beginning Friday, the average SNAP recipient will experience a 5.4-percent decrease in benefits. The average family of four will see a drop of about $36 a month.
Food banks are bracing for even more requests for food. North Carolina has seen the percentage of its residents needing food assistance steadily increase over the past five years.