Most Working-Age SNAP Participants Work, But Often in Unstable Jobs

“The backdrop of frequent job turnover among low-income workers can make it difficult to assess and quantify the work experiences of [Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program] SNAP recipients [the program otherwise known as food stamps]. Looking at work status among SNAP participants at a given point in time substantially overstates their joblessness…” (p.1). This report examines “participants’ work patterns and low-wage workers’ participation in SNAP…over a period of several years” (p.1).

 

“This report looks at individuals who participate in SNAP, are aged 18-59, and are not receiving disability benefits. These individuals include both those living with children and those in childless households....While this paper uses the phrase ‘non-disabled’ to describe individuals not receiving disability benefits, many of these individuals have impairments that limit their ability to work or to perform other everyday tasks….

 

This report uses two main methods to analyze the patterns of SNAP participation and work among non-disabled adults over time using [self-reported] data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation…

 

• ‘Within a year of a point in time’: This analysis looks at participants who were receiving SNAP in a specific month in mid-2012, and then observes their work the year before and after that….Comparing work among participants in a given month when participating in SNAP to work among those individuals over a longer period of time demonstrates that work is under-counted if one looks only at work in a specific month among the adults participating in SNAP in that month.

   

• ‘Ever over the period’: This analysis looks at the group of non-disabled adults who received SNAP at any point in a roughly 3.5-year period from mid-2009 through mid-2013. This allows [the authors] to better capture the patterns of work and SNAP participation over a longer period, including times when individuals are not participating in SNAP” (p.2).

 

(Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

“[The authors’] analysis of employment and SNAP participation trends among working-age adults who are not receiving disability benefits finds: • Nearly three-quarters of adults who participate in SNAP in a typical month work either that month or within a year of that month of participation. Over half of individuals who were participating in SNAP in a typical month in mid-2012 were working in that month. Furthermore, 74 percent worked in the year before or after that month (in the 25-month period). • SNAP participants often experience periods of joblessness and are more likely to participate in SNAP when they are out of work. Individuals who participated in SNAP at any point over a 3.5-year period from 2009 through 2013 worked most months over this period, but were more likely to participate when they were out of work. They participated in SNAP in over two-fifths of the months that they were working (44 percent). They participated in SNAP in 62 percent of the months in which they were not working, a time when their income was lower and their need for help affording food was higher. • SNAP participation among non-disabled adults is often short term, but those who receive SNAP for longer periods still work most of the time. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of the adults who participated in SNAP at some point over the roughly 3.5-year period that this part of our analysis examined received it for a total of less than two years. Regardless of how long these adults participated in SNAP, however, they worked in the majority of months in which they received SNAP assistance. Over one-third of non-disabled adults worked in every month they participated in SNAP. • SNAP participants who are consistently out of work often face barriers to work or have caretaking responsibilities. About one-quarter of adults who participated in SNAP in a given month in 2012 did not work within a year. Of those adults, most cited caretaking responsibilities or health conditions as the reasons they were not working. These adults were also more likely to lack a high school degree or to report a work-limiting health condition than those who worked. (While this analysis is limited to adults who do not receive disability benefits, many individuals with significant impairments and other health conditions that limit their ability to work do not receive such benefits.)” (p.2-3). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2018
• Author(s): Keith-Jennings, Brynne and Chaudhry, Raheem.
• Organizational Author(s): Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Funding Source: Funding source not identified
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies