Nutrition Topics

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Effects on Food Security (SNAPFS) Study

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has long been one of the nation's largest and most important assistance programs for low-income households.

Mathematica's SNAP Effects on Food Security study, performed for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), is examining the extent to which food security, defined as having access to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle, improves with SNAP participation. This will produce important new evidence on the program's impact and will inform policy decisions. The study is also assessing the extent to which the amount households spend on food changes with SNAP participation. These relationships are being examined for all SNAP participants and for key policy relevant subgroups, such as households with children, households with elderly members, and households without income.

Data are being collected between October 2011 and February 2012 from nationally representative samples of approximately 11,000 households that have recently entered SNAP and 6,000 households that have participated in SNAP for six to seven months. New entrant households will also be re-interviewed six to seven months after their initial interview. Through computer assisted telephone interviews, households are providing detailed data on food spending, food security, food shopping behavior, income and employment, and demographic and economic characteristics.