A recent 50-cent hike in the minimum wage in the Northern Mariana Islands has resulted in almost 200 fewer people getting food stamps.
The administrator of the government's Nutrition Assistance Program says the number of households to be given food stamps dropped last year to fewer than 3,500.
This is being attributed to the wage hike lifting some families above the threshold for food stamp vouchers.
Currently, the minimum benefit, a household of one person, is 133 US dollars while the highest benefit, a household of 15, is 1,460 dollars.
