Impact of the SNAP Program on Food Consumption

IMPACT OF THE SNAP PROGRAM ON FOOD CONSUMPTION

Executive Summary
Hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition is a major public health challenge affecting many low-
income Americans. The Supplemental Assistance Program serves as the US agency to assists
such low income sections of the US population towards improving food security and nutrition.
The Supplemental Assistance Program(SNAP) has rapidly grown over the past few years, with
participants increasing by about 300% between 2000 to 2015. The dramatic increase has led to a
series of research being conducted to investigate its impact on a people’s food consumption
habits.
Various researchers have proved that SNAP is highly effective at alleviating food insecurity and
improving nutrition. The program has been found to have far-reaching short-term and long-term
benefits on low –income household participants. Food assistance to the low-income people lead
to reduction in hunger rates and improvements in health and academic performance among
beneficiary children.
The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of the SNAP program on food
expenditure. The study was conducted following the difference in difference technique where subjects
were studied for the differential impacts of SNAP program on food expenditure. Regression analysis was
conducted for purposes of analyzing the data. The study made use of nutrition survey data available at
https://cps.ipums.org/cps/index.shtml.
A key finding of the study is that participation in the SNAP program positively impacts on expenditure
allocated to food items. In a quest to fight food insecurity and improve nutrition, people who participate
in the SNAP program end up increasing resource allocation to food expenditure. An interaction with other
factors that influence food expenditure increases the effect that SNAP has on food expenditure.

Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Eligibility.....................................................................................................................................4
Research Objective......................................................................................................................4
Research questions...................................................................................................................5
Limitations...................................................................................................................................5
Methodology....................................................................................................................................5
Regression Discontinuity Design............................................................................................5
Assumptions of DID................................................................................................................6
Instruments..................................................................................................................................7
Data..............................................................................................................................................7
Hypotheses...................................................................................................................................8
Null Hypothesis 1....................................................................................................................8
Alternative Hypothesis............................................................................................................8
Results and Discussion....................................................................................................................9
Results..........................................................................................................................................9
Regression Discontinuity.........................................................................................................9
Discussion......................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
The primary aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of the SNAP program on food
expenditure. The study was conducted following the difference in difference technique where subjects
were studied for the differential impacts of SNAP program on food expenditure.
According to (Hoynes, 2014) SNAP is, “...one of the largest cash or near-cash means tested, universal
safety net programs in the United States.” In particular, in 2013 there was an estimated $275 per benefits
for each household per month, that is $133 per person (Schmier, 2015). However, over time the
program’s implementation and benefits have changed a little relatively over time with just the same
framework adopted approximately 50 years ago being in adopted in the program today (Kim, 2015). The
foods included in the SNAP program include: breads and cereals, fruits and vegetables; meats, fish and
poultry, dairy products, seeds and plants that produce food for the household consumption.
Eligibility
The SNAP program is funded by the federal government and eligibility criteria are determined
by the federal government. For households to be eligible to be part of the SNAP program, they
must have a monthly income less that 130 percent of the official poverty line. The eligible
households receive SNAP benefits every month. Since 2004, eligible households have benefited
in form of Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which they can use to purchase food items.
The sample was restricted to a subsample of the data with a higher probability of being eligible
for participation in the SNAP program. Only households with gross income below 130% of the
poverty line were considered for the analyses (Findeis, 2011). The calculation of the poverty line
was conducted using the 1998-2009 poverty guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health
& Human Services (HHS). The SNAP benefits are intended to help improve nutrition among
low-income households in the United States.