Food stamp participation by eligible older Americans remains low

摘要

For more than 15 years, the Nation's largest food assistance program has confronted a mystery. Although USDA's Food Stamp Program has special provisions to facilitate participation by low-income Americans age 60 and older, only about a third of thoseeligible in this age group join the program. No other demographic group participates at such a low rate. The food stamp participation rate--the number of participants as a proportion of the number of eligible people--dropped slightly for older Americansfrom 1994 to 2000, while the participation rate fell sharply for other age groups (table 1). For people age 60 and older, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) estimates that the participation rate was 36 percent in 1994 and 30 percent in 2000. By contrast, the participation rate fell from 74 to 60 percent for nonelderly adults in the same period. For children under age 18, the participation rate also fell, from 90 percent in 1994 to 72 percent in 2000.