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COVID-19 Working Paper: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer Redemptions during the Coronavirus Pandemic

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  • Jordan W. Jones

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to an economic contraction in the United States in 2020, predictably leading to an increase in the dollar amount of food assistance benefits issued to households. Previous economic downturns provide limited precedent to understand the growth in food assistance benefits during this pandemic, especially considering the speed of the economic contraction and the policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. To quantify part of the growth in food assistance benefits, this analysis explores monthly patterns in combined Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) redemptions through September 2020, compares these patterns with recent years, and explores changes in the types of food retailers at which redemptions are made. This analysis uses 2017-20 data from the Food and Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Store Tracking and Redemption System (STARS) on the monthly value and store type of SNAP and P-EBT benefit redemptions, as well as data from the Economic Research Service’s (ERS) Food Expenditure Series on the value of food-at-home expenditures. Overall, an average of $8.4 billion in combined SNAP and P-EBT benefits were redeemed per month during the 6-month period of April through September 2020—an increase of 86.4 percent compared to the same period in 2019. These benefits accounted for an average of 11.7 percent of expenditures on food at home during the April-September 2020 period—an increase of 72.1 percent compared to the same period in 2019. The share of benefits redeemed at super stores increased, while the share of benefits redeemed at other store types decreased relative to previous years. The value of benefits redeemed online also grew quickly, from $2.9 million in February 2020 to $196.3 million in September 2020. By September, online redemptions accounted for 2.4 percent of the total value.

Suggested Citation

  • Jordan W. Jones, 2021. "COVID-19 Working Paper: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer Redemptions during the Coronavirus Pandemic," USDA Miscellaneous 310389, United States Department of Agriculture.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:usdami:310389
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.310389
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    Cited by:

    1. Kathryn M. Cardarelli & Emily DeWitt & Rachel Gillespie & Rachel H. Graham & Heather Norman-Burgdolf & Janet T. Mullins, 2021. "Policy Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Insecurity in Rural America: Evidence from Appalachia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Toossi, Saied & Jones, Jordan W & Hodges, Leslie, 2021. "The Food and Nutrition Assistance Landscape: Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report," Economic Information Bulletin 327366, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. Jones, Kyle & Leschewski, Andrea & Jones, Jordan & Melo, Grace, 2023. "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Online Purchasing Pilot’s impact on food insufficiency," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    4. Huang, Junhua & Valizadeh, Pourya & Bryant, Henry & Priestley, Samuel, 2024. "How Did the Expiration of SNAP Emergency Allotments Affect Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Purchases of SNAP Households?," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 344186, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Sharon Raszap Skorbiansky & Suzanne Thornsbury & Anne Effland, 2022. "Specialty crops and the farm bill," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 1241-1260, September.
    6. Toossi, Saied, 2021. "COVID-19 Working Paper: Filling the Pandemic Meal Gap: Disruptions to Child Nutrition Programs and Expansion of Free Meal Sites in the Early Months of the Pandemic," Administrative Publications 327342, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Miriam Manboard & Cassandra M. Johnson & Hannah Thornton & Lesli Biediger-Friedman, 2021. "The HOME Study: Understanding How College Students at a Hispanic Serving Institution Coped with Food Insecurity in a Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P & Gregory, Christian A & Singh, Anita, 2021. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2020," Economic Research Report 327186, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Leschewski, Andrea & Melo, Grace & Jones, Jordan W., 2022. "The SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot’s Impact on Food Sufficiency During the Covid-19 Pandemic," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322060, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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