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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Food Security: Insights From Administrative Records

  • ERR-355

Overview

Studies that assess the effectiveness of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in alleviating food security have primarily been conducted using Federal survey data.  These surveys have high rates of SNAP misreporting as it is shown that a high share of survey respondents does not accurately report their SNAP participation. Research has shown that even small amounts of misreporting could impact estimates of the causal and noncausal relationships between SNAP participation and food insecurity. In this context, we use administrative records from 19 States matched to the Current Population Survey (CPS) Food Security Supplement for the 2017–19 period to investigate misreporting and its consequences for understanding how SNAP impacts food insecurity. 

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