Record numbers of Americans now receive SNAP/Food Stamps, more than a year after the recession has been officially deemed over. Job layoffs and reduced family incomes have driven more and more households to apply for the benefit, while the economic recovery act made more Americans eligible through expanded access and eased requirements, the Christian Science Monitor reports here.

While the recession may have “ended,” “all it means is that the decline in GDP [gross domestic product] stopped, but there’s very little evidence that the loss of jobs and wages has stopped,” said Jim Weill, president of the Food Research and Action Center.

According to monthly figurs released by the U.S.  Department of Agriculture, about 41.8 million people, more than 1 in 8 Americans, use food stamps each month.