Food stamp cuts will hit certain states harder than others

Click on the photo to check out how your state's population will be affected by food stamp cuts that go into effect Friday.

The recession driven boost to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program officially expires Friday, reducing benefits for approximately 47.7 million Americans.

The reductions will affect each state differently, since some states have a larger population relying on food stamps. Pew States reports that a dozen states have one in five residents collecting benefits, with Washington, D.C., and Mississippi having the largest numbers of SNAP recipients.

During fiscal year 2014, spending cuts will be $5 billion and another $6 billion over the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years. As the federal funding cuts settle in, an average family of four will receive $36 less each month, according to data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report highlighted more facts on who will be affected by the cuts:

• More than 200,000 veterans lived in SNAP households in two states: Florida (109,500) and Texas (105,700) from 2009-2011.

• These cuts will likely cause hardship for some SNAP participants, including 22 million children in 2014 (10 million of whom live in "deep poverty," with family incomes below half of the poverty line) and 9 million people who are elderly or have a serious disability.

• SNAP has never experienced a reduction in benefit levels that affected all participants until now.

The federal program was originally designed to fight hunger among the poorest Americans targeting children, disabled people and the elderly. Since 2004, enrollment has doubled, and years of recession have escalated costs -- from $35 billion in 2007 to $80 billion in 2012.

Back in 2009, there was a monthly 13.6 percent increase in SNAP benefits as a part of a temporary measure to support struggling families and workers, and to boost the economy as the country fell deep into recession.

H/T Ariel Min