anxiety as stimulus hike in food stamps set to end

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This Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013 photo shows Jennifer Donald, whose family receives money from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also known as food stamps, looks at her son's Donovan, 4, drawing as his brother David, 6, left, does his home work and daughter Jayla, 10, helps prepare dinner in Philadelphia. Families already buffeted by difficult economic times will see their food stamps benefits drop Nov. 1 as money allocated by the 2009 federal stimulus plan runs out. The average family of four will see benefits drop by $36 a month, a tough hit at a time when child poverty is climbing and Congress is debating a major cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A temporary increase in food stamps expires Oct. 31, meaning for millions of Americans, the benefits that help put food on the table won't stretch as far as they have for the past four years.

Food stamps - actually the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - go to 47 million Americans a month, almost half of them children and teenagers.

"Every week is a struggle as it is," said Heidi Leno, 43, who lives in Concord with her husband, 9-year-old daughter and twin 5-year-olds. "We hate living paycheck to paycheck and you have to decide what gets paid."

Starting in 2009, the federal stimulus pumped $45.2 billion into SNAP, increasing what would have been a monthly benefit of $588 a month to $668 for an average household of four. In November, that same family will start getting $632 a month, about a 5 percent cut.

The monthly benefits, which go to 1 in 7 Americans, fluctuate based on factors including food prices, income and inflation.