Food Stamp/SNAP Participation Rates: The Role of Including Group Quarters

Michelle Jiles, U.S. Census Bureau
Tracy Loveless, U.S. Census Bureau

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest domestic food and nutrition program. One measure of the success of SNAP is the percent of a state’s population serviced by SNAP. It is an indicator of how well states are meeting the needs of their populations. Research on recipiency rates has focused on the household population. Of the over 8 million group quarters residents, 8 percent received SNAP in the past 12 months. Research on SNAP has noted this lack of inclusion of the group quarters population in the count and characteristics of those on SNAP. This research has three goals: to examine the characteristics of those in group quarters reporting SNAP versus those not on SNAP; assess the quality of the data for those reporting SNAP; provide a clear understanding on state recipiency rankings by comparing states rankings before and after the inclusion of the group quarters population.