Free Republic

Overall enrollment in the country’s food stamp program has dropped to its lowest level in more than eight years as the economy continues to improve and the Trump administration attempts to tackle fraud in the program. According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), enrollment in the program dropped in March to 40,083,954. The last time food stamp participation dipped this low was in February 2010, when 39,588,993 people were enrolled in the program. "As the economy continues to improve, participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is...

**SNIP** The traditional concept of employment is the latest thing that the ever-contrarian millennial generation is reinventing. They’re quitting their jobs, without worrying about what they’ll do next. According to a 2018 Millennial Survey by Deloitte, 43 percent of millennials expect to leave their job within two years. The trend is in line with broader shifts. According to the Labor Department, the percentage of workers (of any age) quitting their jobs reached 2.4 percent in May, the highest level in more than 16 years. “Twenty years ago I never would have seen this,” says Cat Graham, a managing partner in...

Sometimes a society’s values change sharply with almost no one noticing. In 1968, according to a Gallup survey, 70 percent of American adults said that a family of three or more children was “ideal” — about the same number as Gallup surveys starting in 1938. That number helps explain the explosive baby boom after Americans were no longer constrained by depression and world war. Those values and numbers didn’t last. By 1978, Gallup reported that only 39 percent considered three or more children “ideal.” The numbers have hovered around there ever since, spiking to just 41 percent in the late-1990s...

Africa has seen the births or conversions of nearly 50 million people in the last yearNew data, released earlier this year, announced that Africa holds the largest number of Christians in the world. This moves the reigning champs of the title, Latin America into 2nd place. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, produced an infographic which breaks down the world’s Christian population by continent. The results show Africa on top with 631 million Christian residents, Latin America in 2nd place with 601 million Christians, and Europe in 3rd place with 571 million Christians. CBS...

In its latest forecast on U.S. pay TV and OTT (over-the-top) viewership, eMarketer projects that the number of those cutting the cord will grow faster than previously expected this year, while OTT viewership also outpaces projections. [Snip] According to eMarketer’s latest forecast on U.S. pay TV versus OTT, the number of those cutting the cord will climb 32.8% this year to 33 million, higher than the 22% growth rate (27.1 million) that was originally projected in July of 2017. This number represents the cumulative number of adults who have ever cancelled a pay TV service and have opted to continue...

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A week ago, Maine Democrat Zak Ringelstein wasn’t quite ready to consider himself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, even if he appreciated the organization’s values and endorsement in his bid to become a U.S. senator. Three days later, he told The Associated Press it was time to join up. He’s now the only major-party Senate candidate in the nation to be a dues-paying democratic socialist. Ringelstein’s leap is the latest evidence of a nationwide surge in the strength and popularity of an organization that, until recently, operated on the fringes of the liberal...

PORTLAND, Maine — A week ago, Maine Democrat Zak Ringelstein wasn't quite ready to consider himself a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, even if he appreciated the organization's values and endorsement in his bid to become a U.S. senator. Three days later, he told The Associated Press it was time to join up. He's now the only major-party Senate candidate in the nation to be a dues-paying democratic socialist. Ringelstein's leap is the latest evidence of a nationwide surge in the strength and popularity of an organization that, until recently, operated on the fringes of the liberal movement's...

With over 37 million residents, Greater Tokyo is the most populous metro area in the world today. Urban growth is not unique to Japan. By 2030, the United Nations predicts that the world will have 43 megacities, defined as metro areas with more than 10 million people. Most of them will be in developing regions in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The UN recently released its annual World Urbanization Prospects, which estimates which metro areas will have the highest populations by 2030. On World Population Day this Wednesday, let's take a look at the top 13: 13. Greater New...

A few months before my 42nd birthday, I was out to dinner with friends and found myself seated next to a well-known older male writer. I happened to be in the final stages of finishing a proposal for a memoir about being a single woman over 40 without children, and was inwardly marveling at the timing of our encounter. I was a fan of his. Perhaps he might offer some wisdom? Words of encouragement? As drinks were delivered I sketched the outline of the story: No one had prepared me for how exhilarating life could be on my own. I...

White millennials are equally divided between supporting Republicans and Democrats in this year's critical midterm elections, as a campaign urging people to "Walk Away" from the Democratic Party has picked up steam online. Young people do not like President Donald Trump, but whites between the ages of 18 and 34 said they are equally likely to vote for a Republican as for a Democrat in the elections for Congress this November. A full 39 percent said that "if the election for U.S. Congress were held today," they would vote for the Republican in the district where they live. Another 39...

Young white Americans are fleeing the Democrat Party en masse following the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, a new poll reveals. The latest Reuters/Ipsos Poll surveyed more than 16,000 registered voters between the ages 18 to 34 over the course of the last three months of 2018. This same poll was conducted in 2016 around the same time period. Young white Americans, in 2016, favored Democrats over Republicans in 2016 by a 47 to 33 percent margin. Since Trump’s election — and his booming economy which has secured high-paying jobs and record job opportunities — young white Americans’...

For the past several years, political pundits on both sides of the aisle have been predicting a future with a permanent Democratic majority in the United States. As evidence, they point to increasing immigration of races that consistently vote over two to one for Democrats, and to the fact that young people overwhelmingly lean left. Republicans have won the popular vote only once in the past seven presidential elections, and Texas, the jewel in the Republican crown, is forecast to go blue in a decade or two because of its growing Hispanic population. These predictions have led to jubilation among...

(Screen Capture/PBS) (CNSNews.com) - In 40 straight Gallup polls over a span of 24 years, a majority of Americans have said that they believe abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances. In the latest Gallup survey examining the issue, which was conducted May 1-10, 53 percent said they believe abortion should be illegal in all or most circumstances. The Gallup survey asks this question: “Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” If the respondent says they believe abortion should be “legal only under certain...

While millennials still prefer the Democratic party over the Republicans, that support is tanking. In just two years, it dropped sharply from 55% to 46%. Meanwhile, their support for Republicans has remained roughly stable in the past two years, falling from 28% to 27%. *** Today, as many white millennials support the Democrats as the Republicans (each 39%). Just two years ago, Democrats still had a 14% lead over Republicans among white millennials. The trends are even more pronounced among white male millennials. Today, this group favors the Republicans over the Democrats by a staggering 11%. In 2016, Democrats led...

Trump Derangement Syndrome is combining with resentment over the cheating of Bernie Sanders out of the 2016 presidential nomination to lead the Democratic Party toward an embrace of angry radicalism, which will result in rejection by voters on November 8.  Bill Clinton, who led his party to victory in the 1990s with moderation ("triangulation"), apparently sees the danger of the party repulsing mainstream Americans and gaining status as a radical minority, successful only in big cities. Yesterday, he went on the little watched late-night program hosted by Trump-hating Trevor Noah and averred a "lot of respect" for the way Sarah...

"Think about trying to live today on the income you had 15 years ago." That's how agriculture expert Chris Hurt describes the plight facing U.S. farmers today. The unequal economy that's emerged over the past decade, combined with patchy access to health care in rural areas, have had a severe impact on the people growing America's food. Recent data shows just how much. Farmers are dying by suicide at a higher rate than any other occupational group, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The suicide rate in the field of farming, fishing and forestry is 84.5...

Researchers have discovered an alarming trend: the average I.Q.s of human beings is on a downward spiral. Westerns have lost 14 IQ points on average since the Victorian age, according to a study published by the University of Amsterdam last year.  Jan te Nijenhuis thinks this could be because intelligent women tend to have less [sic] children than women who are not as clever[.] ... [E]ducated people are deciding to have fewer children, so that subsequent generations are largely made up of less intelligent people. Richard Lynn, a psychologist at the University of Ulster, calculated the decline in humans' genetic potential....

America’s largest Protestant group moves to cut ties with the Republican Party and re-engage with mainstream culture. It was immediately clear that change was afoot in Dallas. I’ve attended the annual gatherings of the Southern Baptist Convention dozens of times, but walking around the convention center this week, I was struck by how unfamiliar it all felt. When I was a child, the convention hall was a sea of silver combovers and smelled of denture paste. While the older, more traditionalist crowd was still present in Dallas, the younger, fresh-faced attendees now predominated. “The generational shift happening in the SBC...

Naomi Tomky was still laid out on the operating table after an emergency C-section when the earliest pangs of regret kicked in. “The baby was being lifted over my head,” the 34-year-old freelance writer remembers, “and the anesthesiologist was like, ‘what’s her name?’ I started explaining and was like, oh God, what have I done?” Tomky’s now 8-month-old daughter is Tove (pronounced TOH-vah), a Swedish moniker that’s typically said like TOO-vah, but in this case, the expectant parents from Seattle changed the pronunciation for a twist. “My husband has Swedish heritage and then Tova, or Tovah, is a common Hebrew...

Here’s a shocking and telling statistic on the direction of American society today: suicide rates have risen sharply in every U.S. state (except Nevada, which was already alarmingly high) from 1999 to 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide rates are up more than 30 percent in half of the states over the last couple decades. There were 45,000 suicides in 2016, up from 44,193 in 2015. Suicides on average across the nation have increased by 25%. Depression, isolation, opioids, technology, and substance abuse are to blame. But more important than the causes is the fact...