Skip to main content
Skip to main content

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

State Trends in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Eligibility and Participation Among Elderly Individuals

  • by Karen Cunnyngham
  • 11/1/2010
  • CCR-64

Overview

Elderly adults (ages 60 or older) participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program, at lower rates than other eligible people. This report provides State information on the characteristics of elderly SNAP participants and eligibles and elderly participation rates that can be used both in assessing the success of past efforts and when considering additional efforts to increase elderly SNAP participation. The report is based on analyses from a Survey of Income and Program Participation-based microsimulation model, SNAP Quality Control data files, the Current Population Survey, and other data. The report finds that the estimated elderly SNAP participation rate increased steadily from 25 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2002 to 34 percent in FY 2006. The highest elderly participation rates were found in Hawaii, Florida, Maine, New York, and Oregon. The States with the largest elderly participation rate increases were Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Washington.

This study was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., under acooperative research agreement with USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP): agreement number 59-5000-8-0099 (ERS project representative: John Kirlin). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of ERS or USDA.

Download