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The Effect of Food Assistance Work Requirements on Labor Market Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Carl Keene
  • Craig Wesley Carpenter

Abstract

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly named the Food Stamp Program, has long been an integral part of the US social safety net. During US welfare reforms in the mid-1990s, SNAP eligibility became more restrictive with legislation citing a need to improve self-sufficiency of participating households. As a result, legislatures created two of these eligibility requirements: the General Work Requirement (GWR), which forces an adult to work to receive benefits, and the Able-Bodied Adult Without Dependents (ABAWD) work requirement, which requires certain adults to work a certain number of hours to receive benefits. Using restricted-access SNAP microdata from nine states, we exploit age cutoffs of the ABAWD work requirement and General Work Requirement (GWR) to estimate the effect of these policies on labor outcomes. We find that at the ABAWD age cutoff, there is no statistically significant evidence of a discontinuity across static and dynamic employment outcomes. At the GWR age cutoff, unemployed SNAP users and SNAP-eligible adults are on average more likely to leave the labor force than to continue to search for work.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Carl Keene & Craig Wesley Carpenter, 2024. "The Effect of Food Assistance Work Requirements on Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 24-54, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:24-54
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2024/adrm/ces/CES-WP-24-54.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

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