SNAP Helps 1.2 Million Low-Income Veterans, Including Thousands in Every State
End Notes
[1] We defined veterans as those individuals who indicated they have ever served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.
[2] The number of SNAP participants has increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but is similar to the 2017-2019 period analyzed. Therefore, the 1.2 million figure may be comparable to current veteran participation. See https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap for more detailed numbers.
[3] CBPP analysis of U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and Supplemental Poverty Measure public use files. Corrections for underreported benefits from the Department of Health and Human Services/Urban Institute Transfer Income Model (TRIM).
[4] Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), “Employment Situation of Veterans – 2020,” March 18, 2021, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/vet.pdf. Latino veterans may be of any race. Asian veterans had lower unemployment rates than white veterans in 2020. BLS did not publish data on veterans of other races.
[5] Mary Keeling, Sara Kintzle, and Carl A. Castro, “Exploring U.S. Veterans’ post-service employment experiences,” Military Psychology, February 28, 2018, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08995605.2017.1420976; Congressional Budget Office, “Labor Force Experiences of Recent Veterans,” May 2017, https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/reports/52418-laborforceveterans_0.pdf; Lisa Stern, “Post 9/11 Veterans With Service-Connected Disabilities and their Transition to the Civilian Workforce,” Advances in Developing Human Resources, December 19, 2016, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1523422316682928; Institute of Medicine, “Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and Their Families,” National Academies Press, March 12, 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK206864/; Rosalinda Maury, Brice Stone, and Jennifer Roseman, “Veteran Job Retention Survey,” Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families, https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/VetAdvisor-ReportFINAL-Single-pages.pdf.
[6] Maury, Stone, and Roseman, op. cit.; Kim Parker et al., “The transition to post-military employment,” Pew Research Center, September 10, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/09/10/the-transition-to-post-military-employment/; Sara Kintzle et al, “Exploring the Economic & Employment Challenges Facing U.S. Veterans: A Qualitative Study of Volunteers of America Service Providers & Veteran Clients,” USC School of Social Work Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families, May 2015, https://voa-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pdf_file/file/762/A_Study_of_Volunteers_of_America_Service_Providers_and_Veteran_Clients.pdf; Melissa Boatwright and Sarah Roberts, “Veteran Opportunity Report: Understanding an untapped talent pool,” LinkedIn, https://socialimpact.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/linkedinforgood/en-us/resources/veterans/LinkedIn-Veteran-Opportunity-Report.pdf.
[7] See for example: Colleen E. Jackson et al., “Associations Among Increases in Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms, Neurocognitive Performance, and Long-Term Functional Outcomes in U.S. Iraq War Veterans,” Journal of Traumatic Stress, June 2021, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jts.22663; Helen Phipps et al., “Characteristics and Impact of U.S. Military Blast-Related Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review,” Frontiers in Neurology, November 2, 2020, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.559318/full; Alicia A. Swan et al., “Long-term physical and mental health outcomes associated with traumatic brain injury severity in post-9/11 veterans: A retrospective cohort study,” Brain Injury, October 1, 2018, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02699052.2018.1518539; Rajeev Ramchand et al., “Prevalence of, risk factors for, and consequences of posttraumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems in military populations deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan,” Current Psychiatry Reports, May 2015, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25876141.
[8] Bureau of Labor Statistics, op. cit. Veterans are assigned disability ratings on a scale of 0 to 100 based on adverse health conditions from their military service. A disability rating of at least 60 percent is considered severe in this context.
[9] Meghan Henry et al., “The 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress,” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, January 2020, https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2019-AHAR-Part-1.pdf.
[10] Liyun Wu, Gang Wang, and Charles M.S. Birore, “Disabilities Status, Health Insurance, and Medical Hardship among Veterans,” Social Work in Public Health, November 30, 2018, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19371918.2018.1546253.
[11] Matthew P. Rabbitt and Michael D. Smith, “Food Insecurity Among Working-Age Veterans,” U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, May 2021, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/101269/err-829.pdf?v=1434.9. Food insecurity is measured at the household level. In this study, individual veterans and individual non-veterans were assigned their household’s food insecurity status.
[12] Nipa P. Kamdar et al., “Risk for depression and suicidal ideation among food insecure US veterans: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study,” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, March 26, 2021, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-021-02071-3.
[13] Andrew London and Colleen Heflin, “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Use Among Active-Duty Military Personnel, Veterans, and Reservists,” Population Research and Policy Review, December 2015, Vol. 34, Issue 6, pp. 805-826, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11113-015-9373-x and Karen E. Cunnyngham, “Reaching Those in Need: Estimates of State SNAP Participation Rates in 2012,” U.S. Department of Agriculture, February 2015, https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/ops/Reaching2012.pdf. London and Heflin found 21.9 percent of low-income veterans participated in SNAP using five-year American Community Survey data for 2008-2012. USDA found that 83 percent of eligible low-income people in the U.S. participated in SNAP in 2012 (with 82 percent participating in 2018, according to the most recent report).
[14] Jennifer Pooler et al., “Prevalence and Risk Factors for Food Insecurity Among Low-Income US Military Veterans,” Public Health Reports, January 21, 2021, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0033354920974662 and Jennifer Pooler et al., “Veterans and Food Insecurity,” IMPAQ, November 2018, https://impaqint.com/sites/default/files/issue-briefs/VeteransFoodInsecurity_IssueBrief_V1.3.pdf. Pooler et al. pooled National Health Interview Survey data from 2011 to 2017. The food insecurity reference period is the last 30 days, while Rabbitt and Smith’s study uses a reference period of 12 months.
[15] Christine Going and Anne Utech, “Food insecurity screenings connect Veterans, resources,” VAntage Point, September 2, 2021, https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/94006/food-insecurity-screenings-connect-veterans-resources/.
[16] Josh Protas, “Reviewing the Availability of Resources to Address Veteran Hunger,” testimony from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger to U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, January 9, 2020, http://docs.house.gov/meetings/VR/VR10/20200109/110350/HHRG-116-VR10-Wstate-ProtasJ-20200109.pdf.