Food Stamp Program Participation: An Exploratory Analysis

This article addresses the questions of who, among eligible low-income consumers, participates in the Food Stamp Program and which variables are influential in determining whether eligible persons will participate. Variables found to be statistically significant in the probit analysis were the number of adult equivalents in the household, the number of persons 65 or older in the household, whether the household head had more than a high school education, whether the household owned a home, whether the household resided in Ohio, whether the household head was employed, whether the household had only unearned income, whether the household did not have any income either earned or unearned, whether the household received public assistance, the monthly household income, whether the respondent was Mexican-American, and lastly, in two of the three equations estimated whether the respondent was Black. The value of the Food Stamp allotment was not significant. Further investigation using appropriately measured theoretical components to estimate the extent to which command over market goods and services and nonmarket social consequences for households enter into the Food Stamp Program participation decision is indicated.