Food-Assistance Expenditures Fall for Second Year

A strong economy combined with stricter food stamp eligibility rules in fiscal year 1998 led to fewer people receiving Federal food assistance and a resulting decrease in food-assistance program costs. Federal Government expenditures on these programs totaled $33.6 billion in fiscal year 1998, a fall of 6 percent from the previous year, making this the second consecutive year in which total expenditures declined. Prior to fiscal year 1997, annual food-assistance program expenditures had increased for 14 consecutive years (fig. 1), which are measured from October through September rather than by calendar year. (The data cited in this article are based in part on preliminary data submitted by various reporting agencies as of December 1998 and are subject to change as reporting agencies finalize data.) The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers the wide assortment of food-assistance programs that differ by expenditure level, the population groups they serve, and the types of benefits provided (see box on domestic foodassistance programs). Most of the decrease in total food-assistance expenditures in fiscal year 1998 was attributed to the Food Stamp Program; other programs expanded. Individual programs, when grouped into four broad categories-Food Stamp-Related, Child Nutrition, Supplemental Food, and Food Donation-reveal general patterns and trends.