The number of Americans who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has increased by 70 percent since 2008 to 47.8 million as of December 2012, according to recently-published figures by the Wall Street Journal.
This means a staggering 15 percent of the American population is receiving food stamps, which is almost double the rate of 1975.
Looking at American children, almost half of all kids receive benefits from SNAP, including nearly 10 million who already live in extreme poverty.
According to US National Poverty Center, those living in extreme poverty are households where their income is less than USD two per person per day.
Despite previously-reported figures, which showed more people are working, the number of enrollees in the SNAP program continues to grow.