Food Stamp Use, Bankruptcies at All Time Highs
 

Food Stamp Users to Reach All Time High
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Newsmax Staff

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Foo.../02/84953.html

The number of Americans receiving food stamps will reach an all-time high of 28 million in the coming year, the Congressional Budget Office projects.

The spike in recipients in many states is a result mainly of the recent economic slowdown, along with rising prices for basic goods.

The Budget Office cited an expected growth in unemployment in predicting that federal benefit costs will rise to $36 billion and recipients will number 28 million in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, up from 27.8 million in the current fiscal year and 26.5 million in 2007.

“People sign up for food stamps when they lose their jobs, or their wages go down because their hours are cut,” Stacy Dean, director of food stamp policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told the New York Times...............

http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Foo.../02/84953.html
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Individual bankruptcy filings up 27%
Published on Thursday, April 03, 2008.
Source: CNN Money

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/02/news...ion=2008040212

NEW YORK - The number of individuals filing for bankruptcy surged during the first-quarter as American households struggled to stay on top of debt, according to a report released Wednesday.

The American Bankruptcy Institute said that consumer bankruptcy filings increased 27% nationwide in the first three months of the year, compared with the same period last year. In March alone, 86,165 individuals filed for consumer bankruptcy - a 13% increase over the 76,120 cases filed in February.

"Bankruptcies are rising due to the heavy burden of household debt and growing mortgage problems," said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. "We expect this trend to continue through 2008."

The ABI found that nearly 32% of all consumer bankruptcy cases were Chapter 13 filings, which is available to individuals with regular income and calls for budgeting some of the debtor's future earnings to pay off creditors.