Food Stamp Leavers in Illinois-How Are They Doing Two Years Later? Final Report

by Anu Rangarajan, Philip Gleason, and Thomas Carlin

This study examined the situation of food stamp recipients in Illinois who left the Food Stamp Program in 1997. About half of all leavers were employed in any given month after exiting the program, and many worked in low-wage jobs. Nearly half of all leavers returned to the program, and more than half had incomes below the poverty level. One-quarter of food stamp leavers reported having fair health, and 13 percent reported poor health or other health problems. One-quarter of food stamp leavers were food insecure, with either moderate or severe hunger evident. Food insecurity was higher among able-bodied adults without dependents than among other groups of leavers. Nearly 60 percent of all food stamp leavers experienced one or more serious hardships (extreme poverty, food insecurity, treatment for substance abuse, serious illness, and health problems but no health insurance).

Keywords: Food Stamp Program, Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, PRWORA

In this publication...

• Entire Report