SNAP Participation through the Great Recession: Employing a Structural Vulnerability of Poverty Framework to Examine SNAP Participation Among Low-Income Heads of Households

Background and Purpose: This research examines how aspects of a weakened social structure potentially impact SNAP participation over the course of the Great Recession among low-income heads of households. The objective is to understand how structural factors, such as unemployment, discrimination, a growing low-wage labor market, and a shrinking safety net, impact participation in SNAP. To meet this goal, this research will specifically ask the following questions:

 

• How does participation in SNAP change when individual characteristics and human capital variables associated with the structural vulnerability of poverty are examined?
• Do differences in SNAP participation change by structural factors associated with poverty across states?

This research brings a new approach to investigating the relationship between determinants of SNAP participation as a function of poverty in relation to structural factors through the use of a structural vulnerability of poverty framework.  Instead of asking how SNAP participation affects labor force participation, this research adds to the literature by exploring what factors act as a determinant to SNAP participation in times of economic uncertainty.  It is hypothesized that those residing in states with a weakened social structure will have increased participation rates in SNAP.

Methods: A binomial logistic multilevel regression was conducted using secondary data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation 2008 Panel.  The sample was narrowed to include low-income heads of households aged 18-64 (those considered working age).  The study examined SNAP participation and the weakened social structure by exploring four measurement domains to represent the determinants of participation: individual characteristics, a shrinking safety net, a low wage labor market and a depressed economy.

Results: The first component, human capital/individual characteristics, was found to have significant effects on SNAP participation when examining education, ethnicity, race, gender, and household structure. The second component, the weakened social structure, had mixed results when examining the independent variables that represented a depressed economy, growing low-wage labor market and a shrinking safety net. With significant effects in variables such as involuntary part-time employment, state median hourly wages, and safety net participation in Medicaid, TANF, WIC and Unemployment Insurance, the model holds up overall as having an impact on SNAP participation. When analyzing the random-effects parameters, the estimate of .130 with a 95% confidence interval ranging from .054 to .309 reflects that inclusion of the state variable has accounted for some of the variance in Food Stamp participation. 

Conclusions and Implications: The majority of poverty research examines the effect individual participation in social welfare programs has on labor participation through labor supply theory. This approach assumes that poverty and wealth reflect personal merit and effort; and that work is readily available rand a rational choice is being made to participate in welfare and/or the labor force. By employing the structural nature of poverty framework to examine SNAP participation, this research provides a step forward in the poverty research realm. The findings offer important insights to inform welfare policy, and in particular the impact of the social structure on SNAP participation and poverty.