Issues in Food Assistance. How Umemployment Affects the Food Stamp Program

摘要

The Food Stamp Program is a means-tested entitlement program that automatically responds to changes in the need for assistance. During economic expansions, caseloads tend to fall as unemployment rates fall and incomes rise. During economic downturns, the program stabilizes the well-being of those adversely affected by changing macroeconomic conditions such as a rise in the unemployment rate. The importance of this relationship is confirmed by the increases in food stamp caseloads and outlays during the last half of 2001, when unemployment rates were rising again. This issues brief examines the historic link between unemployment and food stamps, to improve understanding of the potential magnitude of economic and policy changes on food stamp caseloads.