WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A increasing number of families in the United States are struggling to set food on the table as privation rises in major cities, a novel survey showed on Thursday.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2011 hunger and homelessness survey found all except four of the 29 cities surveyed reported ~y increase in requests for emergency viands assistance during the period between September 2010 and August 2011.

Half of those asking on this account that emergency food assistance were people in families, space of time 26 percent were employed. The somewhat old accounted for 19 percent, with the homeless composition up the remaining 11 percent.

This is the latest supervise to underscore the magnitude of the mischief inflicted by the 2007-09 recession.

Though the downturn ended 2-1/2 years ago, the recovery has been very dull by historical standards as households struggle to repair their equilibrium sheets and unemployment is at some uncomfortably high 8.6 percent.

About 24.4 the public Americans are either out of work or underemployed and employment remains 6.3 very great number jobs below its level in December 2007 which time the recession started.

According to regulation data, a record 49.1 very great number Americans were living in poverty in 2010.

During that sentence , the number of households depending without ceasing food stamps -- subsidies that help clan cover the costs of groceries -- soared 16 percent to 13.6 the multitude.

The mayors' survey attributed unemployment, scantiness, low wages and high housing costs of the same kind with the main reasons behind the roller in demand for food assistance.

It institute there was a 10 percent medial sum increase in the amount of fodder being distributed by the cities and righteous over two-thirds of the cities reported a go in the quantities they were handing in a puzzle.

About 71 percent of cities related their total budget for emergency cheer purchases had gone up. Across the 29 cities, 27 percent of the persons requiring emergency food assistance did not accept it, the survey found.

In 86 percent of the cities, rations pantries and emergency kitchens had to resolve into the quantities of food people could admit per visit or the amount of victuals offered per meal.

None of the cities expected challenge for food assistance to decline into the bargain the next year. Many anticipated a ear-ring in the resources to provide cheer assistance, citing cuts in government funding and declining provisions donations by the public.

The survey also found that homelessness increased by an average of six percent across the 29 cities.

SOURCE: http://bridle-~.ly/tYhAKJ U.S. Conference of Mayors, December 14, 2011.

@yahoonews adhering Twitter, become a fan on Facebook