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Government Shutdown and SNAP Disbursements: Effects on Household Expenditures

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  • Marks, Mindy

    (Northeastern University)

  • Prina, Silvia

    (Northeastern University)

  • Gernhardt, Roy

    (Northeastern University)

Abstract

We test the ability of SNAP eligible households to smooth consumption when facing unexpected transitory income shocks stemming from the 2018-19 government shutdown. In response to the shutdown, all states were federally mandated to pay February SNAP benefits on or before January 20th. This created a short-term windfall (two payments very close to each other) followed by a longer than normal gap during which no SNAP disbursements were received. We show that expenditures are lower in the month where benefits where advanced vis-à-vis months with unaltered benefits schedules. We complement this finding by exploiting preexisting state-level differences in disbursement schedules that drove some states to temporarily alter the timing of the 2019 March and April SNAP disbursements. These diff-in-diff results show that households in treated states reduced spending when there was a longer than usual gap between SNAP disbursements. Our findings are inconsistent with the permanent income hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Marks, Mindy & Prina, Silvia & Gernhardt, Roy, 2023. "Government Shutdown and SNAP Disbursements: Effects on Household Expenditures," IZA Discussion Papers 16452, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16452
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumption smoothing; permanent income hypothesis; SNAP; government shutdown;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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