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Screening Out the Needy: the Effects of SNAP Work Requirements

Author

Listed:
  • Lexin Cai
  • Hyewon Kim
  • Pauline Leung

Abstract

We examine the effectiveness of work requirements as a screening device in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Work requirements for “able-bodied adults without dependents” were suspended after the Great Recession and gradually reinstated across counties and states in the 2010s. Using linked administrative SNAP and employment data from five states and a triple-differences design, we find that work requirements reduce SNAP participation by seven percent without increasing labor supply and disproportionately screen out low-income individuals. We develop a welfare framework to interpret these results and find that the social costs of work requirements exceed budget savings.

Suggested Citation

  • Lexin Cai & Hyewon Kim & Pauline Leung, 2026. "Screening Out the Needy: the Effects of SNAP Work Requirements," Working Papers 26-46, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-46
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pamela Herd & Donald Moynihan, 2025. "Administrative Burdens in the Social Safety Net," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 39(1), pages 129-150, Winter.
    2. Colin Gray & Adam Leive & Elena Prager & Kelsey Pukelis & Mary Zaki, 2023. "Employed in a SNAP? The Impact of Work Requirements on Program Participation and Labor Supply," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 306-341, February.
    3. Ritter, Joseph A., "undated". "Incentive effects of SNAP work requirements," Staff Papers 281156, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    4. Nathaniel Hendren & Ben Sprung-Keyser, 2020. "A Unified Welfare Analysis of Government Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(3), pages 1209-1318.
    5. Bruce D. Meyer & Nikolas Mittag & Robert M. Goerge, 2022. "Errors in Survey Reporting and Imputation and Their Effects on Estimates of Food Stamp Program Participation," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(5), pages 1605-1644.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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