IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v45y2024i2d10.1007_s10834-023-09909-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Cash Safety Nets Fade: SNAP-Participating Households with Children Without Cash Income

Author

Listed:
  • Vincent A. Fusaro

    (School of Social Work, Boston College)

  • David Seith

    (Rutgers University)

Abstract

The proportion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/food stamps-participating households with children with no reported cash income increased from 5 to 15% from 1997 to 2019. In this article, we examine the relationship between changes in state cash assistance coverage under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the probability a SNAP-participating household with children reports no cash income. Using household-level data from the SNAP/food stamps Quality Control system (1996–2019; n = 491,059) merged with state-year data including measures of cash assistance coverage (ratio of families receiving aid to families in poverty and families receiving aid to single mother households below poverty), we estimated a set of logit models of the probability that households with children participating in SNAP reported no cash income. We found that higher levels of state TANF cash assistance coverage were associated with a reduced probability of households reporting no cash income and that this relationship was particularly focused in single-parent households, precisely those most affected by the changes in traditional cash welfare enacted in the mid-1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Vincent A. Fusaro & David Seith, 2024. "When Cash Safety Nets Fade: SNAP-Participating Households with Children Without Cash Income," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 470-483, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:45:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-023-09909-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-023-09909-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10834-023-09909-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10834-023-09909-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey Grogger, 2003. "The Effects of Time Limits, the EITC, and Other Policy Changes on Welfare Use, Work, and Income among Female-Headed Families," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(2), pages 394-408, May.
    2. Borjas, George J., 2004. "Food insecurity and public assistance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1421-1443, July.
    3. Irma Arteaga & Colleen Heflin & Leslie Hodges, 2018. "SNAP Benefits and Pregnancy-Related Emergency Room Visits," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(6), pages 1031-1052, December.
    4. Robert Moffitt, 2015. "The Deserving Poor, the Family, and the U.S. Welfare System," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 729-749, June.
    5. Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham, 2019. "SNAP Benefits and Crime: Evidence from Changing Disbursement Schedules," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(2), pages 310-325, May.
    6. Hal W. Snarr, 2013. "Was it the economy or reform that precipitated the steep decline in the US welfare caseload?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 525-540, February.
    7. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu & Victoria R. Mooers & Carla Medalia, 2019. "The Use and Misuse of Income Data and Extreme Poverty in the United States," NBER Working Papers 25907, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    9. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    10. Muennig, P. & Caleyachetty, R. & Rosen, Z. & Korotzer, A., 2015. "More money, fewer lives: The cost effectiveness of welfare reform in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(2), pages 324-328.
    11. repec:mpr:mprres:7448 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Hanming Fang & Michael P. Keane, 2004. "Assessing the Impact of Welfare Reform on Single Mothers," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 35(1), pages 1-116.
    13. repec:mpr:mprres:18 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Quinn Moore & Robert G. Wood & Anu Rangarajan, 2012. "The Dynamics of Women Disconnected from Employment and Welfare," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 41287cc6ae4e477590fac1553, Mathematica Policy Research.
    15. Bradley L. Hardy, 2017. "Income Instability And The Response Of The Safety Net," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 312-330, April.
    16. Zachary Parolin, 2021. "Income Support Policies and the Rise of Student and Family Homelessness," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 693(1), pages 46-63, January.
    17. Caroline Ratcliffe & Signe-Mary McKernan & Sisi Zhang, 2011. "How Much Does the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1082-1098.
    18. Lucie Schmidt & Lara Shore-Sheppard & Tara Watson, 2016. "The Effect of Safety-Net Programs on Food Insecurity," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(3), pages 589-614.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Popova, Olga, 2024. "Environment vs. Economic Growth: Do Environmental Preferences Translate Into Support for Green Parties?," IZA Discussion Papers 17475, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Sylvia E Twersky, 2019. "Restrictive state laws aimed at immigrants: Effects on enrollment in the food stamp program by U.S. citizen children in immigrant families," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, May.
    3. Hicks, Jeffrey & Simard-Duplain, Gaëlle & Green, David A. & Warburton, William, 2022. "The effect of reducing welfare access on employment, health, and children's long-run outcomes," CLEF Working Paper Series 51, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    4. Melanie Guldi & Lucie Schmidt, 2017. "Taxes, Transfers, and Women’s Labor Supply in the United States," Working Papers 2017-01, University of Central Florida, Department of Economics.
    5. Lucie Schmidt & Lara Shore‐Sheppard & Tara Watson, 2023. "The Effect of Safety Net Generosity on Maternal Mental Health and Risky Health Behaviors," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 706-736, June.
    6. Ana McCormick Myers & Matthew A. Painter, 2017. "Food insecurity in the United States of America: an examination of race/ethnicity and nativity," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(6), pages 1419-1432, December.
    7. Marks, Mindy & Prina, Silvia & Tahaj, Redina, 2023. "Short-Term Labor Supply Response to the Timing of Transfer Payments: Evidence from the SNAP Program," IZA Discussion Papers 16299, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Sedova, Barbora & Kalkuhl, Matthias, 2020. "Who are the climate migrants and where do they go? Evidence from rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    9. Baccini, Leonardo & Impullitti, Giammario & Malesky, Edmund J., 2019. "Globalization and state capitalism: Assessing Vietnam's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 75-92.
    10. Chris Herbst & David Stevens, 2010. "The Impact of Local Labor Market Conditions on Work and Welfare Decisions: Revisiting an Old Question Using New Data," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(4), pages 453-479, August.
    11. Dean Jolliffe & Juan Margitic & Martin Ravallion & Laura Tiehen, 2024. "Food stamps and America's poorest," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(4), pages 1380-1409, August.
    12. David Neumark & Brian Asquith & Brittany Bass, 2020. "Longer‐Run Effects Of Anti‐Poverty Policies On Disadvantaged Neighborhoods," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(3), pages 409-434, July.
    13. Rolf Aaberge & Ugo Colombino, 2014. "Labour Supply Models," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Handbook of Microsimulation Modelling, volume 127, pages 167-221, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    14. Hal Snarr & Dan Friesner & Daniel Underwood, 2012. "Evaluating evolutionary changes in state TANF policies," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(17), pages 1753-1758.
    15. Herbst, Chris M. & Tekin, Erdal, 2010. "Child care subsidies and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 618-638, August.
    16. Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer & Mathias Thoenig, 2012. "The Geography of Conflicts and Regional Trade Agreements," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 1-35, October.
    17. Susana Ferreira & Mirko Moro, 2013. "Income and Preferences for the Environment: Evidence from Subjective Well-Being Data," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(3), pages 650-667, March.
    18. Rolf Aaberge & Lennart Flood, 2013. "U.S. versus Sweden. The effect of alternative in-work tax credit policies on labour supply of single mothers," Discussion Papers 761, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    19. Yunhee Chang & Swarn Chatterjee & Jinhee Kim, 2014. "Household Finance and Food Insecurity," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 499-515, December.
    20. Davis, David & Huang, Rui, 2013. "The Effect of SNAP Benefits for Food Insecurity," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149827, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:45:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-023-09909-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.