SNAP’s (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) Role in Poverty Reduction & Increased Food Security

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp Program) plays a vital role in the social safety net in the United States, providing almost $72 billion in benefits in 2011. An important measure of SNAP’s effectiveness is the extent to which the program reduces poverty. Evaluations of antipoverty effect of safety net programs often focus on the rate of poverty. However, the poverty rate reflects only one aspect of the antipoverty effect of a safety net program, whether or not adding program benefits to a family’s resources lifts them above the poverty threshold. This book examines SNAP’s role in poverty reduction with a focus on increased food security.