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Work Effort and Work Requirements for Food Assistance among U.S. Adults

Author

Listed:
  • Joel Cuffey
  • Timothy K. M. Beatty
  • Elton Mykerezi

Abstract

We investigate the effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirements on work effort for a particularly disadvantaged subgroup of potential SNAP participants. Individuals age out of SNAP work requirements at age fifty and requirements are occasionally waived in certain areas. We leverage this policy variation in a regression discontinuity research design and find that, for adults with low income and low education, aging out of work requirements decreases employment, hours worked, and the probability of working over twenty hours per week only when requirements are in effect. This drop in work effort is not apparent among low‐income adults in general and is driven by individuals leaving the labor force because they report being unable to work or because they retire. The drop is smaller when states do not provide qualifying work opportunities. Overall, although we find meaningful effects consistent with theory for a subset of low‐income adults, it is not clear that the overall number affected is sufficiently large to translate to noticeable labor market effects among low‐income adults without dependents in general.

Suggested Citation

  • Joel Cuffey & Timothy K. M. Beatty & Elton Mykerezi, 2022. "Work Effort and Work Requirements for Food Assistance among U.S. Adults," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(1), pages 294-317, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:104:y:2022:i:1:p:294-317
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12207
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    Cited by:

    1. Das, Debasmita, 2019. "SNAP Work Requirement and Food Insecurity," MPRA Paper 109964, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Oct 2021.
    2. Dean Jolliffe & Juan Margitic & Martin Ravallion & Laura Tiehen, 2024. "Food stamps and America's poorest," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(4), pages 1380-1409, August.
    3. Jason B. Cook & Chloe N. East, 2023. "The Effect of Means-Tested Transfers on Work: Evidence from Quasi-Randomly Assigned SNAP Caseworkers," NBER Working Papers 31307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Pourya Valizadeh & Bart L. Fischer & Henry L. Bryant, 2024. "SNAP enrollment cycles: New insights from heterogeneous panel models with cross‐sectional dependence," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 106(1), pages 354-381, January.

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