Impact of SNAP benefits

SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program)  is one of many safety-net programs that provide assistance to those in need.  Currently, more than 40 million US residents receive SNAP benefits; this number is considerably higher than the low of 17 million in 2000, has accelerated rapidly after the 2008 recession. Participation has declined steadily since 2013, which can be expected as the economy and job markets recovered from the lows of the great recession.

This program, and others like it, have always been a target for many conservatives in the US.  Often, SNAP benefits are seen as a large entitlement that goes towards folks who abuse, misuse, or do not deserve such a benefit.  Examples do exist of such egregious behavior, but as evidence indicates, this type of fraud and abuse is rare.

Regardless, it is difficult to argue that SNAP is not effective - it does provide a way for households to gain access to food and can even lift these families out of poverty. There are also indicators that the spending on SNAP is an economic multiplier - that is, for every day spent on SNAP benefits, there is a return back to that community of $1.55 - $1.79 in additional activity, as well as additional employment in those (and other) communities.

Further, more recent evidence backs up these benefits, with a particular emphasis on rural areas.  This county-level analysis indicated that for every $10,000 in SNAP spending, 1 additional job was created in these communities (during the recession), and 0.4 jobs outside the recession.  This was seen as a vital part of the recovery of these areas, incomplete as is was.  These effects were also greater than what was seen in urban areas, highlighting how important this program is to a substantial portion of our country.