SNAP Benefit Boost Would Get Needed Food Aid to the Poorest Participants, Who Have Been Left Out

Congress may head home at the end of September without passing needed additional stimulus measures to respond to the alarming numbers of families that are struggling to put enough food on the table and facing other economic hardships due to COVID-19. A top priority for lawmakers this month should be raising SNAP (food stamp) benefits as a way of mitigating hardship and injecting fast, high “bang-for-the-buck” stimulus into the economy. We estimate that this would help more than 16 million people, including 7 million children, who live in households that participate in SNAP and who have not received extra SNAP COVID-emergency benefits.

"A top priority for lawmakers this month should be raising SNAP (food stamp) benefits as a way of mitigating hardship and injecting fast, high “bang-for-the-buck” stimulus into the economy."We’ve recommended increasing the SNAP maximum allotment by 15 percent until economic measures show that unemployment is no longer significantly elevated. That would amount to about $25 more per person per month, or just under $100 per month in food assistance for a family of four. The House-passed Heroes Act includes a time-limited 15 percent bump in SNAP benefits. This increase would ensure that the poorest SNAP households receive additional help from SNAP at a time when many households face severe hardship.^[1] The relief proposals offered by the White House and Senate Republican leadership, however, have been inadequate and include no additional food assistance.^[2]

SNAP Boost Would Alleviate High Levels of Food Hardship

The Census’ Household Pulse Survey (collected over recent months and through late August) and other surveys reveal an ongoing and urgent crisis,^[3] with millions struggling to pay for food, housing, and other basic needs.^[4] About 10 percent of all adults reported that their household sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat in the last seven days, according to the latest data, collected August 19 through 31. While not directly comparable, this figure shows how high food needs are compared to pre-pandemic times: about 3.7 percent of adults reported that their household had “not enough to eat” sometimes or often in the 12 months of 2019, CBPP analysis of Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show.

The hardship figures reported in the Household Pulse data are even higher for Black and Latino adults, with 19 percent of Black and 17 percent of Latino adults reporting that their household sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat in the last seven days, compared to 7 percent of white adults.^[5] These disproportionate impacts reflect harsh, longstanding inequities, often stemming from structural racism. For example, Black and Latino people disproportionately work in low-paying industries that have incurred deep job losses during this recession.

Also alarming, 9 to 14 percent of adults with children reported that their children sometimes or often didn’t eat enough in the last seven days because they couldn’t afford it, the data show. That translates into millions of children. These figures have also risen sharply, with about 1 percent of adults with children in 2019 USDA data reporting that children were sometimes or often not eating enough at some point in the last 30 days, compared to up to 14 percent reporting this problem within the last seven days in the Pulse data. (Note that the most recent Pulse survey results are not comparable to data from prior weeks due to some methodological issues.) As we’ve written, children not getting enough to eat is especially concerning because it can lead to worse developmental, health, and even economic outcomes for them later in life.^[6]

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act of March included an important provision to let states give SNAP households temporary emergency allotments up to the maximum benefit that a SNAP household can receive. (See box, “Emergency Allotments Leave Out Millions.”) These allotments help boost benefits for millions of households, but they do not help the poorest SNAP households, including about 1 in 3 SNAP families with children, which include at least 5 million children. Children who live in households with monthly disposable income below 15 percent of the poverty line (about $266 for a family of three) are not helped at all by the SNAP emergency allotments. Another 2 to 3 million children receive less than about $25 per person per month, the amount they would receive under a 15 percent increase to SNAP maximum benefits.

This group is missing out on much-needed food assistance at a time when food needs have risen at an alarming rate, particularly among households with children and people of color.

Table 1 below provides information for each state on the children in SNAP households who are not being helped by the current emergency allotments. These estimates are based on the number of households in each state before the pandemic (specifically, December 2019 to February 2020) and the SNAP Household Characteristics data for fiscal year 2018, the most recent detailed information about SNAP recipients. These estimates are almost certainly too low, as they do not take into account additional households that are now participating in SNAP as a result of the economic crisis.^[7]

Table 2 shows the same information for SNAP participants of all ages. These estimates show that nearly 12 million individuals did not receive an increase in benefits because they were already at the maximum allotment. More than 16 million people would receive more assistance through the 15 percent increase than they have under the emergency allotments. These figures include children, adults in households with children, and adult-only households.

Children missing out on additional SNAP benefits is concerning, especially given the high rates of food hardship and the serious long-term consequences for children who miss out on basic nutrition; these should spur policymakers to respond immediately. While the risk is greatest for children who chronically lack sufficient food, the shock of becoming food insecure may itself affect children’s behavior,^[8] and living in a household that’s even temporarily food insecure is linked with negative development among toddlers, some research suggests.^[9]

Boosting SNAP benefits can be done in addition to the emergency allotments, and both are important complementary boosts. Congress can provide the 15 percent increase to maximum benefits while states continue to provide emergency allotments, expanding the reach of food assistance to the very needy. Emergency allotments will phase out as states end their public health emergency declarations or when Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar determines that there is no longer a federal public health emergency. When emergency allotments end, a 15 percent benefit boost could continue to mitigate against food insecurity as well as help support the economy.

The severity of food hardship is clear, and policymakers must address this problem in the next economic relief package. Evidence shows that raising SNAP benefits and offering other nutrition supports, such as P-EBT, reduce hardship and provide economic stimulus by putting more money in the hands of those who will likely spend it the fastest.