Older adults’ share of SNAP participation rose from FY 2019 to 2022, while children’s share slightly fell

In fiscal year (FY) 2022, children accounted for about 40 percent of all participants in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), down from about 43 percent in FY 2019. In FY 2022, children younger than 5 made up nearly 12 percent of participants, while school-age children made up 28 percent. Adults ages 18-59 represented 42 percent of SNAP participants in FY 2022, similar to FY 2019. The share of the SNAP caseload for those age 60 and older grew to 18 percent in FY 2022 from about 16 percent in FY 2019. The caseload distribution shift over these 3 years from children to adults age 60 and older can mainly be attributed to an increase in adult SNAP participants rather than a decrease in children participants. While the estimated number of children participating in SNAP decreased to 15.5 million in FY 2022 from 15.9 million in FY 2019, the decrease was offset by larger increases in the number of adult participants. The estimated number of participating adults age 18-59 increased to 16.5 million in FY 2022 from 15.5 million in FY 2019, while the number of adults age 60 and over increased to 7.2 million from 5.8 million. FY 2022 is the latest year for which demographic data are available. The FY 2022 chart appears in the USDA, Economic Research Service’s Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) topic page.