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Changes in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program real benefits and daily caloric intake among adults

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  • Todd, Jessica E.
  • Gregory, Christian

Abstract

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest food-assistance program in the United States, providing support for low-income families to purchase food from stores. Previous research has found that adult participants experience a decline in caloric intake at the end of their benefit month. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we exploit the variation in real SNAP benefits between 2007 and 2014 arising from policy changes and inflation over the period to study how real benefits affect the cycle of food intake over the benefit month among working-age adults in SNAP households. We find that greater real benefit levels reduce the SNAP cycle in daily dietary intake, but that larger changes in benefit amounts would be required to eliminate cyclic intake.

Suggested Citation

  • Todd, Jessica E. & Gregory, Christian, 2018. "Changes in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program real benefits and daily caloric intake among adults," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 111-120.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:79:y:2018:i:c:p:111-120
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.06.004
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    Cited by:

    1. Agustina Laurito & Amy Ellen Schwartz, 2019. "Does School Lunch Fill the “SNAP Gap” at the End of the Month?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 49-82, July.
    2. Pourya Valizadeh & Travis A. Smith & Michele Ver Ploeg, 2021. "Do SNAP Households Pay Different Prices throughout the Benefit Month?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(3), pages 1051-1075, September.
    3. Lee, Ji Yong & Nayga Jr, Rodolfo M. & Jo, Young & Restrepo, Brandon J., 2022. "Time use and eating patterns of SNAP participants over the benefit month," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    4. Ghulam Mustafa & Nasir Iqbal & Faiz Ur Rehman, 2022. "Evaluating the Short Run and Long Run Impacts of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Food-Seeking Behaviour: New Insights from BISP, Pakistan (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 85-102.
    5. Marianne P. Bitler & Christian Gregory, 2019. "Food Access, Program Participation, and Health: Research Using FoodAPS," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 9-17, July.
    6. Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2023. "Understanding SNAP: An overview of recent research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    7. Alyssa J. Moran & Yuxuan Gu & Sasha Clynes & Attia Goheer & Christina A. Roberto & Anne Palmer, 2020. "Associations between Governmental Policies to Improve the Nutritional Quality of Supermarket Purchases and Individual, Retailer, and Community Health Outcomes: An Integrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-23, October.

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