Data & Research
The Food Stamp Program (FSP) helps needy families purchase food so that they can maintain a nutritious diet. Families are eligible for the program if their financial resources fall below certain income and asset thresholds. However, not all eligible families participate in the program. Some choose not to, while others do not know they are eligible. The participation rate—the ratio of the number of participants to the number of eligibles—reveals the degree to which eligible families participate.
This report represents the final evaluation of 26 research demonstration projects authorized under PL 101-264, entitled the "Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act" of 1990.
This executive summary describes Team Nutrition (TN) and findings from a pilot evaluation of the initiative. Detailed research findings are contained in two separate reports.
To explore the suitability of off-line electronic benefits transfer (EBT) as an alternative to paper issuance and on-line EBT issuance systems, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service has supported the Ohio Department of Human Services in expanding off-line EBT issuance to all Food Stamp Program recipients in the state. A pilot project in Dayton, Ohio and a demonstration of a combined WIC-EBT off-line system in Wyoming have clearly established the technical feasibility of off-line EBT for FSP benefit issuance.
The number of people receiving food stamps fell by over 5.9 million between summer 1994 and summer 1997, with most of the decline occurring in the year between September 1996 and September 1997. This decline occurred during a period of strong economic growth – unemployment fell, inflation stayed low, and the percentage of Americans living in poverty fell slightly. In the same period, Congress enacted and states implemented sweeping reforms to the Food Stamp Program and to the nation’s welfare programs.
This report reviews recent approaches to estimating the numbers of persons eligible for and participating in WIC. It also describes issues concerning these estimates that may be worthy of review and synthesizes research on these issues.
This report presents the latest trends in Food Stamp Program participation rates. It adds one more year of information, 1995, to the series of reports on FSP participation rates based on March Current Population Survey data for eligibles and FSP administrative data for participants. Participation rates are calculated as the percentage of the total eligible population that participate in the FSP.
This study evaluates the Retailer Compliance Management Demonstrations in EBT-ready States. In these demonstrations, the State food stamp agencies in New Mexico (NM) and South Carolina (SC) assumed responsibility for managing the participation of food retailers in the FSP, a task previously managed exclusively by the federal government.
This report, part of the Food and Consumer Service’s series "Current Perspectives on Food Stamp Program Participation," presents the latest participation rates for the Food Stamp Program (FSP). The participation rate -- the proportion of those eligible for food stamps who actually apply for and receive benefits -- is a valuable policy tool that shows whether the program is reaching the intended population and which groups of the eligible population participate at higher or lower rates than other groups. Estimates of rates are based on Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) data for eligibles and FSP administrative data for participants.