Boost SNAP to Capitalize on Program’s Effectiveness and Ability to Respond to Need

SNAP’s (food stamps) broad reach among low-income families with children and others who may struggle to afford an adequate diet makes it one of the most effective means of delivering food assistance. The economic crisis spurred by COVID-19 has resulted in an unprecedented increase in SNAP’s reach: 6 to 7 million more people have applied and been approved for benefits since February, state-reported data show.

A SNAP benefit increase also is one of the highest bang-for-the-buck measures for economic stimulus to help support the economy. As a result, an across-the-board 15 percent increase to SNAP’s maximum benefits, as policymakers are considering as part of the next COVID response package, would reach even more low-income people, many of whom are struggling with food insecurity. A SNAP benefit increase also is one of the highest bang-for-the-buck measures for economic stimulus to help support the economy.^[1]

According to national SNAP participation figures from the Agriculture Department (USDA) for March 2020, the first month that the nation began to feel the economic effects of the pandemic, SNAP participation grew that month by more than a quarter of a million people over February.^[2] Preliminary state figures for April and May, as reported by nearly all states, show even larger increases in those months:

• In April, the number of SNAP participants was 12 percent higher than in February in the 43 states that have provided data for April. These states include 97 percent of the SNAP caseload.^[3]
• By May the number of SNAP participants was 17 percent higher than in February in the 42 states that have provided figures. These states include 97 percent of the SNAP caseload.

If the increases in the other states are similar in magnitude, the number of people participating in SNAP will have risen by 6.2 million in just three months, from 36.9 million in February to more than 43 million in May.^[4] (See Table 1.)

The increases across states vary substantially. At the high end, the number of SNAP participants in May had risen by 20 percent or more over February in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio. Almost every state that has reported data saw growth of at least 5 percent over the three-month period, though in a few smaller states, including Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Utah, participation has risen by smaller percentages or edged down slightly.

These increases are unprecedented: during and after the Great Recession of a decade ago, SNAP participation rose by no more than 6 percent over any three-month period (excluding months in which large Disaster-SNAP programs, with more people eligible to participate, were in place). It took 17 months after the start of the Great Recession to add 6.2 million people to SNAP.

While SNAP participation in most states is still substantially lower than during the peak months after the Great Recession, the rise since the start of COVID-19 has been rapid, and SNAP caseloads could continue to climb for some time, depending on what happens with respect to the pandemic, the economy, and future legislation. Growth may slow in June as states took higher income from unemployment insurance (UI) benefits into account for households that were approved for UI in late April or May and the economy partially reopened in some places. But if UI income falls substantially as a result of the scheduled expiration in coming weeks of the temporary $600-per-week federal UI supplement, or if unemployment spikes again, SNAP caseloads will likely rise further. SNAP caseloads also shrink when the economy is strong, as they did in the years leading up to the COVID-19-related downturn. They will fall again when the economy rebounds and need declines.

SNAP reaches a broad cross-section of low-income people, including many families with children, households with members who are elderly or have a disability, and other low-income adults. These increases in participation reinforce SNAP’s valuable role in reducing the hardship that the downturn is causing for households across the country. Other data reveal rapidly rising food needs, especially among people of color and families with children.^[5] These problems would be substantially worse without SNAP benefits and the program’s ability to serve more households when need increases.

Policymakers should boost SNAP benefits by 15 percent in the next relief-and-stimulus package, as the House-passed Heroes Act would do.^[6] Such an increase would give SNAP households an additional $25 per person per month in benefits, which would help reduce poverty and hunger and lessen the rise in food insecurity. It also would serve as effective economic stimulus, with every additional SNAP dollar provided during an economic downturn resulting in $1.50 in spending that’s injected into the economy, according to a 2019 U.S. Department of Agriculture study,^[7] and in more than $1.65 in spending, according to the estimates of Moody’s Analytics’ chief economist, Mark Zandi.^[8]