The American Rescue Plan Act Is a Great Start but More Increases in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits Are Likely Needed Due to Implicit Hidden Reductions

Abstract

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is intended to help low-income individuals reach the cost of a nutritious diet. In response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, SNAP benefits have been increased by 20.3% since October 2020. Given the intended goal of the program, is the 20.3% increase enough? Even prior to COVID-19, the literature had identified 3 separate shortcomings in the current formula that had not been addressed. Here, these shortcomings are integrated into a unifying framework that allows for a comparison between an adjusted formula, that accounts for all these shortcomings, and the current unadjusted formula, that does not account for these shortcomings. Using some average data from the literature, the current unadjusted formula gives the misleading impression that the government will provide 71% of the cost of a nutritious diet with households responsible for 29%. However, working with the adjusted formula, that takes into account the shortcomings, reveals the government actually only provides 41% of the adjusted cost of a nutritious diet and households are responsible for 59%. Some actual and recommended adjustments are shown to fall far short of the full adjustment required to reach a nutritious diet, on average. In particular, the 20.3% increase is less than half of the amount needed to fully correct for these omissions.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food and Nutrition Security among Older Adults: A Qualitative Perspective

“…While most of the participants were recipients of at least one nutrition assistance program, their participation in these programs alone was not enough to ensure adequate access to healthy foods at all times. It has been suggested that SNAP benefits only provide about 41% of the adjusted cost of a healthy diet [28]. Moreover, on average, SNAP recipients redeem greater than 75% of their benefits by the middle of the month [29].…”

Food Insecurity and COVID-19 Diagnosis: Findings from a National United States Sample

“…While research on FI during the pandemic is limited, this should not prevent us from considering policy efforts to lessen the gravity of FI amidst the present-day pandemic. Pre-pandemic research revealed SNAP benefits is not enough to alleviate FI as much as they could if they were to account for variation in food costs across the U.S. [3,13,21,31]. Moreover, federal efforts should further expand SNAP benefits beyond the current 20.3% increase, in response to the unique challenges presented by the pandemic [3,13,21,31].…”

“…Pre-pandemic research revealed SNAP benefits is not enough to alleviate FI as much as they could if they were to account for variation in food costs across the U.S. [3,13,21,31]. Moreover, federal efforts should further expand SNAP benefits beyond the current 20.3% increase, in response to the unique challenges presented by the pandemic [3,13,21,31]. It is also important to consider alternative strategies that may promote food security for those at risk, especially in times of widespread food shortages.…”

“…Additionally, an extra $600 per week supplemented state unemployment benefits during this time [2,5]. In October 2020, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) also temporarily expanded their caseload by 6.2 million more participants [2,13]. Even with these relief efforts in 2020, FI persisted across the U.S. [4].…”