IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejpol/v14y2022i4p51-79.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hungry for Success? SNAP Timing, High-Stakes Exam Performance, and College Attendance

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy N. Bond
  • Jillian B. Carr
  • Analisa Packham
  • Jonathan Smith

Abstract

Monthly government transfer programs create cycles of consumption that track the timing of benefit receipt. If these cycles correspond to critical moments for student learning and achievement, the timing of transfers may have important long-run implications for low-income students. In this paper we exploit state-level variation in the staggered timing of nutritional assistance benefit issuance to analyze effects on academic achievement. Using individual-level data from a large national college admission exam, we find taking this high-stakes exam during the last two weeks of the SNAP benefit cycle reduces test scores and lowers the probability of attending a four-year college.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy N. Bond & Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham & Jonathan Smith, 2022. "Hungry for Success? SNAP Timing, High-Stakes Exam Performance, and College Attendance," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 51-79, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:51-79
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/pol.20210026
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E138181V1
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/pol.20210026.appx
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/pol.20210026.ds
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/pol.20210026?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zachary Parolin & Megan Curran & Jordan Matsudaira & Jane Waldfogel & Christopher Wimer, 2022. "Estimating Monthly Poverty Rates in the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(4), pages 1177-1203, September.
    2. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "The psychological toll of food insecurity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 618-630.
    3. Sam Sims, 2021. "The impact of timing of benefit payments on children's outcomes," CEPEO Briefing Note Series 11, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Feb 2021.
    4. Yoko Ibuka & Junya Hamaaki, 2024. "Income Receipt, Economic Activities, and Health: Evidence from Ambulance Transport Patterns," Working Papers 202401, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    5. Jeehoon Han & Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2022. "Real-Time Poverty, Material Well-Being, and the Child Tax Credit," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(4), pages 817-846.
    6. Marks, Mindy & Prina, Silvia & Tahaj, Redina, 2023. "Short-Term Labor Supply Response to the Timing of Transfer Payments: Evidence from the SNAP Program," IZA Discussion Papers 16299, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:51-79. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.