Research by Author & Topic

Publications by Sheila R. Zedlewski on Hunger and Food Assistance

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides essential help in purchasing food for most low-income Americans. Most families can qualify for benefits if their assets and income fall below minimum levels. SNAP caseloads are at an all-time high due to the recession and to program changes making it easier to receive benefits. The majority of working families that receive assistance are headed by single parents that work part time. SNAP benefits substantially reduce poverty, especially deep poverty, when benefits are added to cash income.

In this commentary for The Providence Journal, Sheila Zedlewski, director of the Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center, and Pamela Loprest, a principal research associate, look at how low-income families have fared since the 1996 welfare reform and what needs to be done to keep them from falling through the safety net.

This paper considers four programs--Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), food stamps, child care subsidies, and the earned income tax credit (EITC)--that form the core work support system in the United States. It highlights differences in program funding, eligibility, and delivery systems. It describes trends in participation and synthesizes research knowledge about the observed differences in program participation. The paper concludes that these programs do not form an effective system. Each program operates under different rules that many low-income working families find daunting. A few recent state innovations offer potential for improving the system.

The most vulnerable populations in New Orleans--the elderly, people with physical and mental disabilities, and single mothers out of the labor market--arguably were hit hardest by Katrina. These groups had the highest poverty rates and the fewest assets. Most were African American. Many depended on the social safety net for survival and on others to avoid the storm's catastrophic effects. Rebuilding presents New Orleans with a unique opportunity to strengthen its safety net for vulnerable populations that return and for others who will require help in the future.

Executive Report:Food stamps are a significant source of food assistance for families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level. The average participating household received roughly $200 a month in benefits during fiscal year 2004. Despite the value of the benefit, many eligible persons do not enroll in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). This report summarizes the findings from 18 local outreach projects the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded in 2002 to test outreach strategies. The projects, which were implemented at different locations across 15 states, included a technological component and/or partnerships with other organizations to expand the scope of outreach. All projects aimed to increase awareness of the FSP and increase the number of food stamp participants.

Food stamps are a significant source of food assistance for families with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level. The average participating household received roughly $200 a month in benefits during fiscal year 2004. Despite the value of the benefit, many eligible persons do not enroll in the Food Stamp Program (FSP). This report summarizes the findings from 18 local outreach projects the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funded in 2002 to test outreach strategies. The projects, which were implemented at different locations across 15 states, included a technological component and/or partnerships with other organizations to expand the scope of outreach. All projects aimed to increase awareness of the FSP and increase the number of food stamp participants.

This policy brief examines low-income children's participation in food assistance programs and explores the potential to improve food security by extending this safety net to more children. The results show that the nutrition safety net plays an important role in low-income families' lives. Seven out of ten young children and almost eight out of ten school-age children in low-income families receive some nutrition assistance. Nonetheless, the safety net fails to reach three out of ten low-income children. Also, one in five poor children receive no nutrition assistance. The authors conclude that the food safety net has considerable room to expand.

Food stamp caseloads increased dramatically between October 2000 and October 2003. This study examines whether new program rules and procedures increased participation rates for families with children. Our results show that families recently on welfare were substantially more likely to participate in the Food Stamp program in 2002 than in 1997 or 1999. In contrast, participation rates for families with no cash welfare experience, the largest share of poor families with children, remained quite low throughout the period. The new program rules and procedures did not affect their participation. Nonparticipating families are more likely to have characteristics associated with shorter term economic deprivation than participating families, but their low current incomes and levels of economic hardship indicate that food stamps would benefit these families substantially. States could encourage more families to take advantage of food stamps by strengthening public outreach and adopting new options to simplify their programs.

Data from the National Survey of America's Families show that food stamp participation rates increased significantly between 1997 and 2002 for former welfare recipients with monthly incomes below poverty. The participation rates for poor families with children and no welfare experience did not change since 1997. For example, less than one in three families without welfare experience and incomes below one-half the poverty line (two-thirds of all families in this income category) reported receiving food stamps in 2002. This suggests that new food stamp program rules and procedures designed to facilitate access to benefits are only making a difference for families with some connection to the cash welfare system.

Data from the 2002 round of the National Survey of America's Families documents that the working poor are struggling to cover food costs. Over 4 million nonelderly low-income families reported using a food pantry in the past year. Working parents with children made up nearly half the families that turned to food pantries. Forty-six percent of low-income families using food pantries also reported receiving federal food stamps.