Revised August 1, 1996
The conference agreement includes $27 billion in food stamp cuts. More than half of the non-Medicaid savings in bill stems from cuts in the food stamp program. When the Administration last year released its highly publicized analysis estimating that the welfare bill which President Clinton later vetoed would add more than one million children to the ranks of the poor, it found the food stamp reductions to be one of the principal factors responsible for this large projected increase in child poverty. The recent Urban Institute report on the effect of this year's legislation on poverty also noted that the food stamp cuts were a main factor behind its estimate that the bill would push 1.1 million children, and 2.6 million people overall, into poverty.
Under the bill, the Food Stamp Program would be cut 17 percent in 2002, with average food stamp benefits falling from about 80 cents per person per meal to 67 cents per person per meal. A substantial portion of the food stamp benefit reductions in both bills would come in the form of across-the-board benefit reductions that would affect nearly all recipient households, including families with children, the working poor, the elderly, and the disabled. Only about two percent of the savings in the bill would come from provisions to reduce fraud and abuse, impose tougher penalties on recipients who violate program requirements, or reduce administrative costs.
Despite the size of the food stamp reductions, little attention has been paid to their effect on the ability of poor households to purchase food. This analysis uses food stamp survey data to assess the magnitude of the food stamp benefit reductions that various types of low-income households would encounter, including families with children, the working poor, and the elderly. It finds the bill would result in substantial reductions in average benefits and food purchasing power for all of these groups.
Families With Children [1]
Under the conference agreement, families with children would absorb $18 billion — or about two-thirds — of the food stamp cuts over six years. In 1998, families with children would lose an average of $430 in food stamp benefits. Approximately 6.7 million families with children are projected to receive food stamp benefits in 1998.
Working Poor Households
The food stamp program provides important assistance to working poor families. In 1994, some 2.3 million food stamp households included a worker. Working poor households, including both working poor households with children and those without children, would absorb $5.4 billion — or about 20 percent — of the food stamp cuts over the next six years. Stated another way, working poor families would see their food stamps cut an average of $355 in 1998. By 2002, these families would lose an average of $465 per year in food stamps.
Elderly Food Stamp Recipients
Over six years, the bill would cut food stamp benefits for households that include elderly members by $2 billion. On average, the 1.75 million households with elderly members would lose $165 per year in food stamp benefits in 1998. Elderly households would lose $240 per year in 2002. In dollar terms, the average food stamp cut for elderly households is lower than for other families because elderly households typically include fewer people and, therefore, receive smaller average benefits. (Food stamp benefits vary with household size.) The bill would reduce food stamp benefits for elderly households by one-fifth.
The Poorest of the Poor: Families Below Half the Poverty Line
Half of the food stamp cuts in bill would be absorbed by the more than three million food stamp households with incomes below half of the federal poverty line. Half the poverty line for a family of three now is $6,250. In 1998, food stamp households with incomes below half the poverty line would lose an average of $650 per year in food stamp benefits. By 2002, these households would face food stamp cuts averaging $785 per year.
Non-Elderly Adults Without Children
The conference agreement is particularly harsh on non-elderly adults that are not raising children. Under the bill, households without elderly members or children would face $8.4 billion in food stamp cuts over six years. Beginning in 1999, these households would see their food stamp benefits cut by 40 percent.
Immigrants
Under the conference agreement, most legal immigrants would be made wholly ineligible for food stamps. (Illegal immigrants are already ineligible for food stamps. A study conducted for the Reagan Administration found that less than 1/100 of one percent of the people getting food stamps might be illegal aliens improperly on the program.) This provision is more severe than the immigrant provisions in last year's House welfare bill, which would have permitted food stamp benefits to continue for those legal immigrants who have been in the United States more than five years and are at least 75 years of age or who are too disabled to naturalize. The new bill includes no such exemptions and would make poor legal immigrants who are over 75 or permanently disabled ineligible for food stamp assistance.
1. Households may be classified in more than one category. For example, a household may be defined as both a working poor household and a household that includes an elderly member.