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Changes in Safety Net Use during the Great Recession

Author

Listed:
  • Patricia M. Anderson
  • Kristin F. Butcher
  • Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Abstract

We examine how participation in social safety net programs differs by income-to-poverty levels, and how that relationship changed after the Great Recession. We define income-to-poverty based on the average of 2 years of merged CPS data, and investigate program participation among households with income less than 300 percent of poverty. We find changes in both the level and distribution of safety-net program participation during the Great Recession, with SNAP expanding most at the bottom, the EITC expanding most in the middle, and UI expanding most at the top of the income ranges that we investigate; TANF did not expand.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia M. Anderson & Kristin F. Butcher & Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2015. "Changes in Safety Net Use during the Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 161-165, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:105:y:2015:i:5:p:161-65
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151056
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Patricia M. Anderson & Bruce D. Meyer, 1997. "Unemployment Insurance Takeup Rates and the After-Tax Value of Benefits," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 913-937.
    2. Jesse Rothstein, 2011. "Unemployment Insurance and Job Search in the Great Recession," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 42(2 (Fall)), pages 143-213.
    3. Peter Ganong & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2018. "The Decline, Rebound, and Further Rise in SNAP Enrollment: Disentangling Business Cycle Fluctuations and Policy Changes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 153-176, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Luis Ayala & Mariya Melnychuk, 2024. "Differential Effects of Expansions and Recessions on Social Assistance Duration: The Case of Regional Minimum Income Programmes in Spain," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 248(1), pages 115-141, March.
    2. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu, 2018. "The Poverty Reduction of Social Security and Means-Tested Transfers," NBER Working Papers 24567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Chi-Fang Wu & Jeehae Kang & Soohyun Yoon & Steven Anderson, 2025. "When One Is Not Enough: Exploring the Intersection of Multiple Public Benefits and Multiple Material Hardships in Low-Income Single-Mother Families," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 598-612, June.
    4. Soliwoda, Michał, 2016. "The Concept Of “Safety Net” And Its Application In American And Canadian Agriculture," Journal of Agribusiness and Rural Development, University of Life Sciences, Poznan, Poland, vol. 40(2).
    5. Hong, Youngjin Stephanie & Henly, Julia R., 2020. "Supplemental nutrition assistance program and school readiness skills," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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