To increase its understanding of the reasons for nonparticipation, the Food and Nutrition Administration(FNA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to conduct a study of nonparticipation by low-income working and elderly households, entitled Reaching the Working Poor and Poor Elderly. This report summarizes what was learned and offers recommendations for how a national survey of the reasons for nonparticipation in the FSP should be designed and fielded.
The Food Stamp Program 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.
The advance report of preliminary findings for the period 1995-1998 introduces the second installment in the annual series, Measuring Food Security in the United States.
In this report, data from the NFSPS are used to address several important questions concerning food store access of low-income households, including: (1) At what kinds of stores do low-income households shop? (2) What distances do low-income households travel to reach those stores? (3) What transportation methods do they use to reach their food stores? (4) Do low-income households engage in careful shopping behaviors that can allow them to get the most out of the money and food stamp benefits they spend on food? and (5) In general, how satisfied are low-income Americans with their shopping opportunities?
One of the main objectives of the survey was to examine the food security of FSP participants, in terms of the adequacy of the food available to them and their risk of hunger. The study also examined the amount of nutrients FSP participants used from home food supplies.
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 provides information about the demographic and economic circumstances of food stamp households.