Contractor and Cooperator Reports No. (CCR-52) 35 pp
Variable Effects of Earnings Volatility on Food Stamp Participation
This study examines how earnings variability affects Food Stamp Program participation and how the effects differ depending on a household’s income position relative to the eligibility threshold. The study uses survey data from the Three-City Study, which is a longitudinal survey of low-income families with children living in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio. The data in the Three-City Study have been linked to administrative case records on program participation. The study estimates longitudinal fixed-effect regression models of the times that households spend on food stamps and distinguishes between households that appear to be eligible or ineligible for food stamps based on longer run income data. Temporary earnings increases and higher annual earnings variability reduce participation for households with low levels of permanent income. Higher annual earnings variability also reduces program participation for higher income households, but the effect is smaller in magnitude.
This study was conducted by Johns Hopkins University and the Universityof North Carolina at Greensboro under a cooperative research contract withUSDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) Food and Nutrition AssistanceResearch Program (FANRP): contract number 43-3AEM-4-80116 (ERS projectrepresentative: Constance Newman). The views expressed are those of theauthors and not necessarily those of ERS or USDA.
Keywords: Food stamps, United States, Surveys, Evaluation, Income, Welfare recipients, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, welfare economics
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