1 in 5 American Children Relying on Food Stamps for Meals

Twenty percent of children in the U.S. currently need food stamps to eat, according to federal data released Wednesday.

Citing figures compiled by the U.S. Census survey of American families, Reuters reports that 16 million children in the country used food stamps in 2014.

This number represents a significant spike from prerecession levels of 9 million children (or 1 in every 8), indicating that the U.S. economy’s recovery is not benefiting low-income families as much.

[Reuters]

Subscribe to TIME

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.

Please enter a valid email address.

* The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again.

Sign Up Now

An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later.

Check here if you would like to receive subscription offers and other promotions via email from TIME group companies.

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you!

For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com.