(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)Watch out college students seeking PhDs, your degree no longer guarantees you a job. Even the benefits of multiple degrees won't put a paycheck in your hands. Most likely you may soon be on food stamps. The number of PhD's on food stamps has more than tripled between 2007 and 2010 to 33,655, according to an Urban Institute analysis cited by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The number of graduates on food stamps and other forms of aid, from masters programs, has almost tripled during the same period to 292,029 according to the same analysis.
Overall, the number of Americans on food stamps rose 43 percent over the past three years to 46.3 million Americans as of February 2012, according to the Department of Agriculture.
College graduates with law degrees are seeking other lower paying jobs because law firms are just not hiring. Even tenured college faculty positions are being cut back in favor of lower paying adjunct faculty positions.
Between cut backs in state and private job markets and a down economy more than 5,057 janitors jobs are filled by PhDs degree graduates, looking for work.
Which States Have The Most People On Food Stamps?
1. Mississippi:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 20.7 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 8.4 percent
2010 Total State Population: 2,967,297
2. Oregon:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 20.1 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 9.6 percent
2010 Total State Population: 3,831,074
3. Tennessee:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 19.8 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 17.9 percent
2010 Total State Population: 6.2 million
4. New Mexico:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 19.8 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 17.9 percent
2010 Total State Population: 2,059,179
5. Michigan:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 19.7 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 11.4 percent
2010 Total State Population: 9,883,640
6. Louisiana:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 19.2 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 7.5 percent
2010 Total State Population: 4,533,372
7. Kentucky:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 18.8 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 5.9 percent
2010 Total State Population: 4,339,367
8. West Virginia:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 18.7 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 2.4 percent
2010 Total State Population: 1,852,994
9. Maine:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 18.6 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 8 percent
2010 Total State Population: 1,328,361
10. South Carolina:
Percentage of Population on Food Stamps: 18.2 percent
Annual Change in Food Stamps from 2010: 7.1 percent
2010 Total State Population: 4,625,364
According to the USDA, we are approaching 50,000,000 people using the food stamp programs benefits. This assistance came at a cost of $71,813,402,544 for FY2011.
