WASHINGTON - About 6 million Americans receiving food stamps, a government programme that helps low-income people buy food, report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid, no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay, according to the newspaper. Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card, it said. The expansion of the food-stamp programme, which will spend more than $60 billion this year, has so far enjoyed bipartisan support. But it does have conservative critics who worry about the costs and the rise in dependency. Because the benefit buys only food, it draws less suspicion of abuse than cash aid and more political support. And the federal government pays for the whole benefit, giving states reason to maximise enrolment.