Exploring Options to Improve the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Date: 01 November 2019
• DOI: 10.1177/0002716219882677
• Author: Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
• Subject Matter: Means-Tested Transfer Programs

204 ANNALS, AAPSS, 686, November 2019

DOI: 10.1177/0002716219882677

Exploring

Options to

Improve the

Supplemental

Nutrition

Assistance

Program

(SNAP)

By

DIANE WHITMORE

SCHANZENBACH

882677ANN The Annals of the American AcademyExploring Options to Improve Snap

research-article2019

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

(SNAP), previously known as the Food Stamp Program,

is a cornerstone of the U.S. safety net. SNAP provides

means-tested electronic vouchers that can be used to

purchase most foods at participating retail outlets and

helps low-income families afford the food that they

need. It also helps to stabilize the economy in fiscal

downturns, because more benefits are paid when jobs

and income are scarce. SNAP households range widely

in their demographic characteristics, from those with

elderly or disabled members, to prime-age families

(typically with children) who combine work and benefit

receipt, to those with no or very low levels of income.

Potential reforms, such as policies to encourage work

or improve dietary outcomes, may have different

impacts on various subgroups and should be designed

with the heterogeneity of the caseload in mind. I review

the theoretical and empirical research literature on

SNAP’s impacts and consider potential reforms by

analyzing them in terms of the program’s stated goals.

Keywords: SNAP; supplemental nutrition assistance

program; food stamp program; safety

net; nutrition assistance; means tested

programs

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance

Program (SNAP), previously known as the

Food Stamp Program, is a cornerstone of the

U.S. safety net. SNAP is the only social benefits

program universally available to low-income

Americans, and in 2018 it assisted 40 million

people in a typical month—about one out of

every eight Americans. In 2018, $60.6 billion

was spent on benefits and $65.0 billion was

spent overall, including administrative costs.

SNAP benefits typically are paid once per

Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach is the Margaret Walker

Alexander Professor of Human Development and Social

Policy at Northwestern University, where she also

directs the Institute for Policy Research. She is an

economist who studies policies aimed at improving the

lives of children in poverty, including education, health,

and income support policies.

Correspondence: dws@northwestern.edu

EXPLORING OPTIONS TO IMPROVE SNAP 205

month on an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card that can be used in a check-

out line like a debit card to purchase most foods that are intended to be taken

home and prepared.

In 2017, 11.8 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some point in

the year. SNAP is designed to prop up families’ purchasing power when their

incomes are low and helps to buffer households’ economic shocks due to job loss

or other income declines. SNAP also has a stated goal of strengthening the agri-

cultural economy, and every $5 increase in SNAP benefits has been shown to

increase economic activity in the local economy by $9 (Hanson 2010). In addition,

SNAP plays an important role as an automatic stabilizer, responding powerfully

and quickly in times of economic downturns. During a recession, as unemploy-

ment rises, families’ incomes fall, making more of them eligible for SNAP benefits

(or making those already eligible for SNAP eligible for larger benefits).

Figure 1 presents SNAP participation (as a share of the population) and expen-

ditures on benefits over time. Total expenditures (in inflation-adjusted 2018 dol-

lars) were $27.2 billion in fiscal year (FY) 1990, peaking at $82.0 billion in 2013 in

the aftermath of the Great Recession, then falling as the economy recovered. Over

the same time period, SNAP participation has grown from 8.0 percent in 1990 to

a high of 15.0 percent in 2013, falling back to 12.3 percent in 2018.

SNAP is the primary means-tested safety net program. Unlike most other

major programs, it provides benefits based on need but does not have additional

targeting to specific groups (such as the elderly, children, or workers). As a result,

it serves a wide range of the population. It does this effectively because it works

in conjunction with the market and normal economic decision-making. SNAP

provides additional resources to purchase food through normal channels of trade,

FIGURE 1

SNAP Participation and Expenditures and Unemployment Rate over Time