Date of Award
Spring 2018
Degree
MS
Advisor
Fernando Rios-Avila, Ph.D.
Abstract
This study is based on the continuing effort to broaden and improve our understanding of the antipoverty effects of SNAP. The purpose of has been to provide estimates of the lower and upper bound effects of accounting for SNAP benefits on the poverty headcount, gap, and severity indices from 2012 to 2016, thereby (1) extending previous research by Tiehen, Jolliffe, and Smeeding (2016), providing the most recent update to their work, and (2) contributing to the growing literature on the impact of SNAP on poverty under full participation, illustrating the full range of the program’s potential to reduce poverty. At a time when lawmakers are contemplating making cuts to the program and instituting more stringent eligibility standards for receiving benefits, this research provides further evidence supporting the argument that SNAP as currently designed is an important tool for alleviating poverty, one with far greater potential that is apparent based on reported participation and benefits.
Access Control
Open Access
Recommended Citation
Maiorana, Rhett J., "Evaluating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Its Effects on Reducing Poverty, 2012–16" (2018). Theses - Graduate Programs in Economic Theory and Policy. 13.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/levy_ms/13