A Quick Guide To Calculating Food Stamp Benefits For Families With Children -- 3/23/99

Most families and individuals that meet specified income guidelines are eligible for food stamps.⁽¹⁾ The size of a family or individual's food stamp benefit is based on cash income from all sources, including earnings and cash assistance. The elements needed to determine most families' food stamp benefits include: income from earnings and welfare, the number of family members, the family's shelter costs, and child care costs. There are other rules regarding eligibility for food stamps, such as a limit on the level of countable assets held by a family (and how the value of a car is treated when determining a family's countable assets) and a gross income limit.⁽²⁾

The food stamp benefit formula is based on the expectation that families will pay a portion of their food budget with income other than food stamps. The monthly food stamp benefit thus is the maximum benefit less the family or individual's contribution. It should be noted that the maximum food stamp benefit is based on the cost of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Thrifty Food Plan, a diet plan that provides adequate nutrition at a modest cost.

The parameters for determining monthly food stamp benefits include the maximum benefit and a family's countable income. Countable income for food stamps includes earnings (before payroll taxes are deducted) and welfare benefits, less a standard deduction all families receive, an earnings deduction for families with earnings, a child care deduction for families with out-of-pocket child care expenses, and an excess shelter costs deduction for families with high shelter costs relative to their income.⁽³⁾

The maximum monthly food stamp benefit for families of various sizes in 1999 and 2000 are shown in Table 1.

Table 1:
Maximum Monthly Food Stamp Benefits by Family Size,
1999 and 2000
Family Size
	One	Two	Three	Four	Five	Six
1999	125	230	329	419	497	597
2000	128	235	337	428	508	610

Table 2
Median Shelter Costs of Working Families
Families with Three or Four Members, with Kids
State	Median Shelter Expenses
Alabama	$341
Alaska	$381
Arizona	$355
Arkansas	$285
California	$408
Colorado	$474
Connecticut	$429
Delaware	$325
District of Columbia	$258
Florida	$427
Georgia	$383
Hawaii	$264
Idaho	$405
Illinois	$275
Indiana	$400
Iowa	$387
Kansas	$398
Kentucky	$251
Louisiana	$317
Maine	$578
Maryland	$350
Massachusetts	$566
Michigan	$503
Minnesota	$502
Mississippi	$241
Missouri	$327
Montana	$425
Nebraska	$363
Nevada	$502
New Hampshire	$325
New Jersey	$620
New Mexico	$218
New York	$655
North Carolina	$377
North Dakota	$364
Ohio	$350
Oklahoma	$364
Oregon	$406
Pennsylvania	$376
Rhode Island	$350
South Carolina	$150
South Dakota	$347
Tennessee	$393
Texas	$300
Utah	$450
Vermont	$375
Virginia	$353
Washington	$462
West Virginia	$316
Wisconsin	$357
Wyoming	$375
United States	$373

Example: A family of four with one full-time minimum wage worker, three children, and shelter costs of $400 per month.

1. Most families are eligible to receive food stamp benefits each month their income and assets meet the program's rules. Adults age 18 to 50 who are not caring for children and not working, however, generally are limited to receiving food stamp benefits for three months in a 36-month period, unless they are participating in a job training program. States and localities can seek a waiver of this eligibility limit if they can show that the state or locality has high unemployment or a surplus of workers. In addition, many immigrants are not eligible to receive federal food stamps, including most adults and many of those who enter the country after August 22, 1996.

2. A family must have gross income below 130 percent of the HHS poverty guideline, and it must have countable income — that is, income after deductions allowed from income for food stamp benefit calculations — below 100 percent of the poverty guideline. Some near poor families with significant deductions for child care may be ineligible for food stamps because they do not meet the gross income test even though they may meet the countable income limit. More details concerning the asset limit, can be found on the Department of Agriculture's food stamp benefit web site: http://www.usda.gov/fcs/stamps/fselig.htm.