SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid give many Americans, including many low-wage workers, access to nutritious food and health coverage. Despite their important roles, recent federal and state proposals and policies would take SNAP and...
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
BEYOND THE NUMBERS
Millions Still Struggling to Afford Food
September 5, 2018
Some 15 million households with 40 million people struggled to afford enough food at some point in 2017, new Agriculture Department data show. That’s about 11.8 percent of households that experienced food insecurity — those in which some members struggled to afford adequate nutritious food at some point during the...
EPI: Work Requirement Proposals Ignore Labor-Market Realities, Wouldn’t Likely Succeed
July 26, 2018
As policymakers debate proposals to take food assistance or health coverage away from beneficiaries who don’t work a set number of hours or participate in qualifying work activities, a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) paper shows why such...
Research: SNAP, Medicaid Participants Face Barriers to Good Wages, Job Stability
July 24, 2018
SNAP and Medicaid participants face a labor market that’s characterized by low and stagnant wages and job instability, new research from leading economists Kristin F. Butcher and Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach shows.
That finding contrasts sharply with this...
Research: Changes in Safety Net in Recent Decades Heavily Favored Working Families, Weakened Supports for Out-of-Work Families
June 18, 2018
With the House set to consider extensive changes in SNAP (formerly food stamps) in the farm bill this week, leading researchers Hilary Hoynes and Diane Schanzenbach have found that over the past 25 years, the safety net has become far more targeted to working families and families with incomes somewhat above the poverty line, while supports for...
Research Supports Importance of SNAP, Doesn’t Support House Farm Bill
May 22, 2018
Though the House rejected the Agriculture Committee-approved farm bill, which includes a number of harmful changes in SNAP (formerly food stamps) that grew...
A More Complete Look at SNAP and Work
May 11, 2018
Some supporters of the House Agriculture Committee farm bill’s proposal to take food assistance away from people who don’t work a set number of hours per month have pointed to statistics that, while often accurate, understate the number of SNAP participants who...
Conaway’s SNAP Work Proposal Would Harm Many Workers
April 17, 2018
Update, April 18: we’ve updated this post to clarify the rules for regaining eligibility following a sanction.
Despite its stated goal of supporting work among SNAP (formerly food stamps) participants, the work proposal in House Agriculture Committee Chairman Michael Conaway’s farm bill won’t likely increase work opportunities. As we’ve...
Analysis of Work in an Average Month Understates Work Among SNAP Participants
April 9, 2018
Policymakers and pundits sometimes describe the work of people participating in SNAP (formerly food stamps) by using the share of working-age adults with jobs in an average month while they’re receiving SNAP. That understates SNAP participants’ level of work and can be misleading, causing some to believe that more SNAP participants don’t work than is the case over time, as the...
Most SNAP Participants Move In and Out of Work: An Animated Look
March 27, 2018
Most adults who participate in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) work, our new paper finds. Many of these workers move in and out of both work and SNAP over time, as our new animation illustrates. Workers who participate in SNAP frequently work in low-wage jobs with...
