Food stamp spending jumped nearly 50 percent in 2020

Federal spending on the country’s largest nutrition assistance program increased by nearly 50 percent in 2020 amid the economic shock of the pandemic, according to newly released data from the Agriculture Department.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, still known to many as food stamps, cost nearly $90 billion in fiscal year 2020, USDA said Wednesday. That’s a major jump from just over $60 billion in 2019.

The why: The massive increase in cost is a result of two major factors: Some 8 million more Americans are getting aid, and benefit levels were increased by Congress on an emergency basis last spring to help blunt the effects of widespread business and school shutdowns.