The Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Food Spending Among Low-Income Households

The main goal of this paper is to provide current information on the impacts of Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program (SNAP) on food spending across two food subgroups: food at home (FAH) and food away from home (FAFH). Data was obtained from the BLS‟s Consumer Expenditure Survey and Detailed Monthly Consumer Price Indices from years 1998 to 2009. Censoring of expenditures and the endogeneity of the SNAP participation variable are accounted for with the use of specialized econometric procedures. We found that SNAP participation increases FAH by $25 and decreases expenditures on food away from home by $32. Since the average SNAP benefits received by participants in the program is $80, the marginal propensity to consume of food at home out of SNAP benefits is 0.31