The number of people on food stamps is plummeting at the fastest rate ever after the government made a key change

Fewer and fewer Americans are on food stamps, and the decline is only getting faster.

According to Paul Trussell, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, the number of people utilizing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in June 2016 was down 4.7% from the same month a year before, and the number of households using SNAP was down 5.2% year-over-year.

“The month of June represents the biggest YOY decline in persons and households participating in SNAP in the program’s history,” Trussell wrote in a note to clients on Thursday.

The primary driver, according to Trussell, is the reinstitution of work rules by states. During the financial crisis, the federal government allowed states to waive requirements regarding employment for SNAP recipients as the unemployment rate soared.

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