With the campaign trails filled with nonsense about foodstamps and other programs that help protect people from hunger and homelessness, the Center for Budget Priorities and Policies has put together a great resource with facts about one of America's most important safety nets.

Policy Basics: Introduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

What Is SNAP?

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the nation's most important anti-hunger program. In 2011, it helped almost 45 million low-income Americans to afford a nutritionally adequate diet in a typical month.

Nearly 75 percent of SNAP participants are in families with children; more than one-quarter of participants are in households with seniors or people with disabilities.

After unemployment insurance, SNAP is the most responsive federal program providing additional assistance during economic downturns.  It also is an important nutritional support for low-wage working families and low-income seniors and people with disabilities with fixed incomes.

The federal government pays the full cost of SNAP benefits and splits the cost of administering the program with the states, which operate the program.

Who Is Eligible for SNAP?

Unlike most means-tested benefit programs, which are restricted to particular categories of low-income individuals, SNAP is broadly available to almost all households with low incomes. SNAP eligibility rules and benefit levels are, for the most part, uniform across the nation. Under federal rules, to qualify for SNAP benefits, a household must meet three criteria (although states have flexibility to adjust these limits): 

• Its total monthly income generally must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty line, or $2,008 (about $24,100 a year) for a three-person family in fiscal year 2012. Households with an elderly or disabled member need not meet this limit.
• Its monthly net income, or income after deductions are applied for items such as high housing costs and child care, must be less than or equal to the poverty line (about $18,500 a year or $1,545 a month for a three-person family in fiscal year 2012).
• Its assets must fall below certain limits: households without an elderly or disabled member must have assets of $2,000 or less, and those with an elderly or disabled member must have assets of $3,000 or less.

Some categories of people are not eligible for SNAP regardless of how small their income or assets may be, such as strikers, most college students, and certain legal immigrants. Undocumented immigrants also are ineligible for SNAP.  Most unemployed childless adults are limited to three months of benefits in many areas of the country, though this limit may be waived in areas of high unemployment. For  more information, see A Quick Guide to Food Stamp Eligibility and Benefit Rules, at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1269. 

How Much Does SNAP Cost?

In fiscal year 2011, the federal government spent about $78 billion on SNAP.  About 92 percent went directly to benefits that households used to purchase food. The remaining 8 percent was used primarily for state administrative costs, including eligibility determinations, employment and training and nutrition education for SNAP households, and anti-fraud activities. About $2.5 billion went for other food assistance programs, such as the block grant for food assistance in Puerto Rico and American Samoa, commodity purchases for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (which helps food pantries and soup kitchens across the country), and commodities for the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.

SNAP has experienced large but temporary growth in recent years.  Caseloads have increased significantly since late 2007, as the recession and the lagging economic recovery dramatically increased the number of low-income households who qualify and apply for help.  In addition, because of benefit increases that were part of the 2009 Recovery Act (discussed below), SNAP has delivered $26 billion in additional economic stimulus through fiscal year 2011.  These changes are temporary, however, and SNAP spending is expected to fall to pre-recession levels as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) as the economy recovers and the Recovery Act provisions end.  (See chart:  "SNAP is Projected to Shrink as a Share of GDP.")

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