Section 15.2.3

15.2.3 - Food Stamp Receipt and Food Security

Food Security and Food Stamp Receipt. Associations between food security and food stamp receipt are of interest for at least two reasons. On the one hand, it is important that the households who are least food secure have effective access to the major government nutrition assistance programs, such as food stamps. On the other hand, it is of interest to examine whether food stamp receipt appears to increase food security, recognizing, however, that causality may be difficult to establish in a cross-sectional study such as this one. The relevant tabulations are shown in Table 15.2.3.

Table 15.2.3

FOOD STAMP RECEIPT AND FOOD SECURITY

Food Stamp Receipt Status of Households
All Client Households	Receiving Food Stamps	Eligible, not Receiving^-1-	Ineligible Because of Income, not Receiving^-1-
Food secure	28.4%	24.23%	25.3%	53.6%
Food insecure without hunger	34.4%	34.8%	35.8%	27.1%
Food insecure with hunger	37.2%	41.0%	38.9%	19.3%
TOTAL	100%	100%	100%	100%
SAMPLE SIZE (N)	29,342	9,767	16,100	3,475

Notes
Item nonresponses to all variables involved were excluded in calculating percentages and sample sizes.

Statistically significant based on chi-square test (d.f. = 4) at the 1% level.

1. Eligibility was estimated based on the previous month's income alone.

Households who are receiving food stamps are about equally as likely to be experiencing food insecurity and hunger as households who appear to be eligible for food stamps but are not participating. On the other hand, households who are apparently ineligible for food stamps are substantially less likely to be food insecure. To at least some degree, these findings reflect the positive correlation between food security and income noted earlier in this subsection.

It is important to note that the fact that substantial numbers of client households are classified as hungry despite receiving food stamps does not by itself mean that the Food Stamp Program is not providing useful assistance. Indeed, many of these households might be much worse off without food stamps. However, the data do suggest that, for many households in the A2H network, the Food Stamp Program's benefits may not be sufficient to prevent hunger.

Specific findings in this analysis include:

24.2% of A2H client household who are receiving food stamps are food secure; and 41.0% are classified as experiencing hunger; similar figures apply to nonparticipants who are apparently eligible for food stamps.
By contrast, 53.6% of A2H households who appear not to be eligible for food stamps are food secure; 27.1% are food insecure without hunger; and 19.3% are experiencing hunger.