Browsing by Subject "Food stamps"

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    The Effect of Household Members' Language Use and English Ability on SNAP Participation Decision
    (2018-05) Park, Dojin
    The participation rate of non-citizen households eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is much lower than the average participation rate of all eligible households. Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), this thesis explores the effect of household members' language use and English proficiency on their SNAP participation decision by estimating panel data econometric models. The main finding is that households whose members speak English at home are 5.1% more likely to participate in SNAP. The result implies that non-native households may have difficulties in applying for SNAP because of higher transaction costs of application. Therefore, policies targeted to reduce transaction costs facing non-native households would likely help increase their SNAP participation, which may lead to less food insecurity. However, the results also show that the effect of household members' English proficiency on their SNAP participation is not statistically significant. Since this result could be due to the limitations of the data, it would be worthwhile to conduct future research using more reliable measurement of English proficiency such as a well-designed test score.
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    Household decisions related to food access and expenditure: essays on food insecurity and SNAP participation in the United States
    (2013-08) Tuttle, Charlotte
    Recent trends in food insecurity and participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have highlighted the need to re-examine the effectiveness of the current SNAP as well as overlooked predictors of food insecurity. In Essay 1, this dissertation estimates the effect of the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on food expenditure of SNAP participants and finds increases in benefit levels resulted in higher levels of food expenditure above and beyond the effect on total expenditure. Essay 2 examines the effects of energy price shocks on the probability of varying levels of food insufficiency and finds unexpected energy price shocks significantly affect the probability of each food insufficiency indicator. Finally, Essay 3 examines the relationship between time spent in food-related activities and food insecurity and SNAP participation and finds significant relationships between food preparation and food insecurity as well as eating and SNAP participation.