Brynne Keith-Jennings
Center on Budget
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Past articles by Brynne:
Puerto Rico Forced to Slash Basic Food Aid While Waiting for Washington to Act
Some 1.35 million low-income residents of Puerto Rico — more than a third of its population — reportedly have had, or will have, their food assistance benefits cut dramatically this month because its disaster food aid has run out and the President and Congress haven’t granted the governor’s request for $600 million more in funding. The House passed an aid package that includes the funds. → Read More
More Evidence That Work Requirements Don’t Work
SNAP (food stamps) and Medicaid give many Americans, including many low-wage workers, access to nutritious food and health coverage. Despite their important roles, recent federal and state proposals and policies would take SNAP and Medicaid away from those who don’t meet a rigid work requirement. → Read More
EPI: Work Requirement Proposals Ignore Labor-Market Realities, Wouldn’t Likely Succeed
As policymakers debate proposals to take food assistance or health coverage away from beneficiaries who don’t work a set number of hours or participate in qualifying work activities, a new Economic Policy Institute (EPI) paper shows why such proposals ignore the realities of the low-wage labor market and would do little to boost employment. → Read More
Most SNAP Participants Move In and Out of Work: An Animated Look
Most adults who participate in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) work, our new paper finds. Many of these workers move in and out of both work and SNAP over time, as our new animation illustrates. Workers who participate in SNAP frequently work in low-wage jobs with little stability and lack key work supports, such as affordable child care — conditions that often contribute to job turnover. → Read More
SNAP Linked to Better Health Throughout Life, Benefits for All Age Groups
We’ve discussed why food insecurity (lack of access to sufficient food) is linked to poor health and higher health costs — and how SNAP (formerly food stamps) reduces food insecurity and therefore may provide a path to better health. → Read More
Food Insecurity Still Above Pre-Recession Levels
Some 12.3 percent of households (15.6 million) were food insecure at some point during 2016, meaning household members struggled to afford enough food for an active, healthy life year-round, the latest annual Agriculture Department report shows. While this figure is below its height of 14.9 percent in 2011, it’s virtually unchanged from its 2015 level of 12.7 percent — and remains above levels… → Read More
SNAP Caseloads, and Costs, Still Falling
The number of SNAP (formerly food stamp) participants continued falling in May, to 41.5 million — down 6.1 million since May 2013 (see graph) and 6.3 million or 13 percent since peaking in December 2012. For nearly four years, SNAP participation each month has been lower than in the same month the previous year. Falling caseloads are helping to shrink SNAP spending as well. → Read More
SNAP Helps Millions of Low-Wage Workers
The nation’s largest anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) provides millions of workers with income to help feed their families. → Read More
SNAP Helps Millions of Low-Wage Workers
The nation’s largest anti-hunger program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) provides millions of workers with income to help feed their families. → Read More
SNAP Spending Continued to Fall in 2016
SNAP spending fell for the third straight year in fiscal year 2016, new Treasury Department data show. This shows that SNAP (formerly food stamps) is working as designed: it expanded during the recession and its aftermath to meet increased need, and has fallen as the economy has improved. → Read More
SNAP Helps Kids Over the Long Term, Too
Our series this week on SNAP and children has shown that SNAP (formerly food stamps) helps a diverse group of low-income children, lifts millions of them out of poverty, and enables millions of families to afford adequate food for their kids. Toda → Read More
SNAP Lifts Millions of Kids out of Poverty
SNAP (formerly food stamps) not only helps a wide-ranging group of children, as my colleague Dottie Rosenbaum has described, it lifts millions of them out of poverty, protecting them from the long-term effects of growing up poor. → Read More
SNAP Works for America’s Children
While SNAP provides only a modest benefit — just $1.35 on average per person per meal for households with children — it forms a critical foundation for the health and well-being of America’s children, lifting millions of families and their children out of poverty and improving food security. → Read More
New Data Show Food Insecurity Continues Falling
The share of households experiencing food insecurity, meaning someone in the household had inadequate access to food at some point during the year, fell from 14.0 percent in 2014 to 12.7 percent in 2015, new Agriculture Department (USDA) data show, continuing a decline from 2011’s peak of 14.9 percent. But food insecurity remains above the pre-recession (2007) level of 11.1 percent (see graph),… → Read More
CBO Estimates SNAP Spending Will Fall Faster
New Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections show that spending on SNAP (formerly food stamps) will fall over the next decade faster than it previously estimated. SNAP spending will fall as a share of the economy, reaching 1995 levels in 2019 (see chart). These projections show that SNAP provided an effective response to the recession — growing temporarily as need rose — and isn’t… → Read More
SNAP Caseloads Fall Sharply; Three-Month Time Limit a Major Driver
SNAP (food stamp) caseloads fell sharply in April, especially in states reinstating a three-month time limit for unemployed childless adults without disabilities, new Agriculture Department data show. The data, covering the first month in which most of the roughly 20 states that imposed the time limit in January began cutting people off SNAP, are consistent with CBPP’s estimat → Read More
SNAP Kept 4.7 Million Americans Out of Poverty Last Year
SNAP (formerly food stamps) lifted 4.7 million Americans out of poverty in 2014, essentially the same as in 2013, today’s Census data using the Supplemental Poverty Measure show. This figure shows SNAP’s powerful role in helping low-income families obtain adequate food and direct their meager resources towards other necessities. → Read More
New Data Show Food Insecurity Remains High
An estimated 17.4 million households with 48.1 million people were “food insecure” in 2014, meaning they had difficulty affording adequate food at some point in the year, the Agriculture Department (USDA) announced today. At 14 percent, the food insecurity rate is not statistically different from 2013. Though the rate has fallen since 2011, it remains well above pre-recession levels (see graph).… → Read More
Food Banks Brace for Long Lines as Thousands Lose SNAP Benefits
Across the country, food banks and other organizations that serve the needy are preparing for long lines as childless adults begin losing SNAP (formerly food stamps) benefits due to the return in over 20 states of a three-month time limit for able-bodied adults. → Read More
SNAP Promotes Long-Term Gains, Especially for Children
Yesterday we examined how SNAP helps low-income families in the short term using data from two new resources, SNAP Matters and a Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) report. This research also shows that these short-term benefits can have long-term implications for families. → Read More