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Snap Expansions And Participation In Government Safety Net Programs

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  • Jeehoon Han

Abstract

This paper investigates the interactions between health and nutritional assistance programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and school lunch programs. Exploiting variation in SNAP eligibility across states and over time, I find strong evidence of program interactions: when a state moves from the federal rule to the most extensive SNAP eligibility rule, enrollment in free school lunch and WIC increases by 4.1 and 7.9 percentage points, respectively. I estimate that the federal government spends an additional 74 cents on the school lunch program and WIC for each dollar spent on SNAP due to the expansion. (JEL H53, I38, J22)

Suggested Citation

  • Jeehoon Han, 2020. "Snap Expansions And Participation In Government Safety Net Programs," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1929-1948, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:58:y:2020:i:4:p:1929-1948
    DOI: 10.1111/ecin.12909
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    Cited by:

    1. Jones, Jordan & Courtemanche, Charles & Denteh, Augustine & Marton, James & Tchernis, Rusty, 2021. "Do State Snap Policies Influence Program Participation among Seniors?," IZA Discussion Papers 14564, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2023. "Understanding SNAP: An overview of recent research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Jones, Jordan W. & Marton, James & Courtemanche, Charles & Tchernis, Rusty & Denteh, Augustine, 2021. "Policy Determinants of Senior SNAP Participation," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313925, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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