Further Proving One-Sided Recovery, One in Five US Children on Food Assistance

One in five U.S. children relied on food assistance in 2014—a figure higher than before the recession—highlighting the uneven results of the so-called economic recovery, new information from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals.

That total is up from one in eight in 2007, according to data released Wednesday. While single-parent families with only a mother present who received food stamps jumped the highest—up 8.1 million from 5.5. million in 2007—figures increased across the board.

Married-parent families in need of assistance went up to 5.2 million from 2.7 million, while those with two unmarried parents jumped to 1.2 million from .5 million.

The news comes shortly after President Barack Obama heralded economic progress and increased job figures as a sign of the country’s emergence from the 2008 recession in his State of the Union address earlier this month.

The data supplements other recent reports that point to a one-sided recovery, as more low-income families slip into poverty under a growing wealth gap.