Data & Research
This report is the latest in a series on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation rates, which estimate the proportion of people eligible for benefits under federal income and asset rules to those who actually participate in the program. Because the coronavirus COVID-19 public health emergency affected data collection starting in March 2020, this summary covers only the pre-pandemic period of October 2019 through February 2020.
Section 4022 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 authorized and funded the SNAP employment and training pilots and the evaluation. The four issue briefs present findings drawn from the evaluation of the 10 pilots.
The SNAP Characteristics report provides information about the demographic and economic circumstances of SNAP households in FY 2020. Because the coronavirus COVID-19 public health emergency affected data collection starting in March 2020, statistics are reported by prepandemic period of October 2019 through February 2020 and the early pandemic period of June to September 2020 (March through May were not reported).
The WIC Food Cost-Containment Practices Study describes the voluntarily approaches state agencies used in 2018 to reduce food costs when selecting and authorizing WIC foods. This study is the second of its kind; the first was conducted by the USDA Economic Research Service in 2003. This report examines how six types of food cost-containment practices are associated with food costs and WIC participant satisfaction, benefit redemption, and food consumption in 12 state agencies.
This information collection addresses the mandatory state agency information and burden estimates associated with the following state agency options under SNAP: establishing and reviewing standard utility allowances and establishing methodology for offsetting cost of producing self-employment income.
This report presents statistics from the survey that cover household food security, food expenditures, and use of federal nutrition assistance programs in 2021.
USDA's nutrition assistance programs touch the lives of one in four American consumers annually and the nutrition education efforts associated with select programs offer a powerful opportunity to promote food security and improve dietary quality among eligible individuals and families.
The WIC Vendor Management Study: 2015 Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Pilot examined compliance with program requirements and rates of violations among WIC EBT vendors in 2015 and tested a method to identify and measure errors that contribute to improper payments in an EBT environment.
SNAP state agencies must operate an employment and training (E&T) program for SNAP participants. States most commonly offer the supervised job search or job search training components. To better understand implementation of these components and their effects on participant outcomes, case studies were conducted in three states to examine processes and outcomes of supervised job search, job search training, and integrated job search within a vocational training component.
Congress directed FNS to update findings on administrative, operational, and program integrity changes needed to update Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) to SNAP as presented in the 2010 USDA report, Implementing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in Puerto Rico: A Feasibility Study and develop a detailed implementation plan for reestablishing SNAP in Puerto Rico. The study findings are presented in a report and an implementation plan.