South Dakota's per capita income went up 5.9% last year (that's the 12th best rate in the nation), and the state took in $4.6 million more in revenue than Pierre expected. We must be rich!
Or maybe there's a really nasty zero-sum game going on. In February, the number of South Dakota families turning to food stamps rose to 26,448 -- that's over 1800 more families than used the program in 2007. Rough estimate: that's like driving down I-29 and finding everyone from Sisseton to Dell Rapids (Watertown, Brookings, Castlewood, maybe even Flandreau?) not able to afford groceries. This reflects a nationwide trend that this NY Times report ascribes to job losses and rising gasoline and food prices.
Rising commodity prices and other economic factors may have a lucky few rolling in the dough, but more people are having trouble getting the bread.
The price of fuel and commodities is having quite an impact already. Madison held its Comprehensive Plan Meeting last night and a glaring statistic is the hourglass shape of the population graph. The two largest segments were retired citizens over age 65 and those age 15-24 (college students). The adults age 30-55 are declining in Madison and we need to correct that. Our elderly population will become smaller and college students move away after graduation, so where will we be 10 years from now? Dwaine, pull a rabbit out of your hat soon.
ReplyDeleteWhile the price of fuel and commodities may be contributing factors to the rise of food stamp usage, I think a bigger piece of the pie is just plain laziness and a lack of personel responsibilty.
ReplyDeleteWhy should I work for anything when I can be bailed out by my parents and the government.
Anon #2 that kind of attitude is an insult to the people that use the program, implying that they are lazy or stupid or both. Maybe the raising numbers of folks are on food stamps because of the weak national economy and the scarcity of jobs in SD that play a living wage.
ReplyDeleteHigher South Dakota wages would have the added benefit of slowing or stopping the flight, to other states, of young people looking for better economic opportunities.