This report examines patterns of SNAP benefit redemption in Fiscal Year 2017 and compares those patterns with findings from two similar studies conducted for Fiscal Years 2003 and 2009.

The SNAP E&T pilot projects give Congress, USDA, and states the opportunity to test innovative strategies and approaches that connect low-income households to good paying jobs and thereby reduce their reliance on public assistance.

This report, the latest in an annual series dating back to 1976, provides information about the demographic and economic circumstances of SNAP households. Using a sample of SNAP Quality Control data that is representative at both the state and national level, this report summarizes the characteristics of households and individuals who participated in SNAP in fiscal year 2018.

This report, part of an annual series, presents estimates, by state, of the percentage of eligible persons and working poor individuals who participated in SNAP during an average month in fiscal year (FY 2017) and the two previous fiscal years.

As required by federal law, state SNAP agencies verify financial and non-financial information by matching SNAP applicant and participant information to various national and state data sources to ensure they meet the program’s eligibility criteria. Data matching is an important tool for ensuring program integrity and benefit accuracy. However,  information on states’ data matching practices and protocols is limited. This study was undertaken to address this knowledge gap.

This report examined some of the key food and financial challenges, as well as factors that influence SNAP participation choices, among elderly people. It also assessed how States implemented interventions designed to improve elderly access to SNAP, and their impacts.

Section 4022 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 authorized and funded the SNAP E&T pilots, which enabled the USDA Food and Nutrition Service and states to expand SNAP E&T programs and test innovative strategies to connect SNAP participants with good-paying jobs, thereby increasing their incomes and reducing the need for nutrition assistance benefits. This is the fifth annual report to Congress.

This report – the latest in an annual series – presents estimates of the percentage of eligible persons, by state, who participated in SNAP during an average month in FY 2009 and in the two previous fiscal years. This report also presents estimates of state participation rates for eligible “working poor” individuals over the same period. Although SNAP provides an important support for working families, the working poor have participated at rates that are substantially below those for all eligible persons. 

This report describes individuals’ patterns of participation in the SNAP from 2004 to 2006, a period of caseload growth and improving economic conditions. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, the study explores reasons that individuals enter and leave SNAP, how long they receive SNAP benefits, and whether they return to the program after exiting. The report also examines whether participation patterns in the mid-2000s changed from earlier periods.

This study analyzes which factors are associated with individuals’ decisions to start participating in the SNAP and with decisions to leave the program during the period 2004 to 2006. Based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, the study uses a technique called “multivariate regression” to isolate the impact of various factors associated with participation decisions while holding other factors constant. T