Article Figures & Data
Tables
First Half of SNAP Month Second Half of SNAP Month Difference N At least one food-at-home event over 7 days 0.91 0.92 −0.02
(0.03)1,548 Total spending at food-at-home events 146.59 81.61 64.98***
(5.28)1,304 Total spending on food-at-home food items 122.31 61.93 60.38***
(5.37)1,304 Total food-away-from-home spending 33.72 37.09 −3.37
(4.43)1,304 Number of people at residence, excluding guests 3.02 2.89 0.13
(0.16)1,304 Number of children in household 1.14 1.02 0.13
(0.12)1,304 Number of seniors (age ≥65) in household 0.16 0.25 −0.09**
(0.04)1,304 Rural tract 0.28 0.31 −0.03
(0.04)1,304 SNAP last received (including estimated amounts) 262.19 250.26 11.92
(16.63)1,298 Household average (monthly) income 2,070.60 2,180.88 −110.28
(240.35)1,304 Total income as percent of poverty guideline 123.16 138.83 −15.67
(13.38)1,304 Household has a car or access to a car when needed 0.69 0.73 −0.04
(0.04)1,304 Number of supermarkets/superstores within 0.5 miles of household 0.64 0.52 0.12
(0.10)1,304 Miles to nearest SNAP-authorized supermarket/superstore 2.10 1.96 0.14
(0.57)1,304 Source: Authors’ estimates using FoodAPS data.
Note: 1,548 SNAP households had a nonmissing date of last SNAP receipt and reported on shopping, including confirming no shopping occurrences. Of those households, 1,304 shopped at least once during the survey week. First Half of SNAP Month = at least one survey day occurs less than seven days since SNAP was last received.
All Foods Foods Commonly Bought throughout the SNAP Month UPC Price Index
(1)UPC Price Index
(2)Food Category Price Index
(3)Food Category Price Index
(4)UPC Price Index
(5)UPC Price Index
(6)Food Category Price Index
(7)Food Category Price Index
(8)First half of SNAP month −0.020***
(0.004)−0.019***
(0.004)−0.010***
(0.002)−0.011***
(0.001)−0.021***
(0.002)−0.022***
(0.002)−0.050***
(0.002)−0.051***
(0.002)Observations 1,031 1,031 1,304 1,303 968 968 1,283 1,282 Demographics/food environment controls No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes Source: Authors’ estimates using FoodAPS data and the FoodAPS IRI subset.
↵Notes: Significance: *p < 0.10, **p < 0.05, ***p < 0.01. Survey weights applied in estimation and standard errors (in parentheses) adjust for complex survey design. First Half of SNAP Month = at least one survey day occurs less than seven days since SNAP was last received. Columns 1–2 and 5–6 have as outcome variables price indexes that use UPC–week–local region IRI price data to compute average price for a good. Columns 3–4 and 7–8 have as outcome variables price indexes that use food category–month–psu FoodAPS survey price data to compute average price for a good. All regressions include controls for PSUs. Demographic and food environment controls include indicator for the household reference person being Black, of other non-Hispanic nonwhite race/ethnicity, household size, number of children in the household, number of household members over age 60, number of household members employed, household monthly income, an indicator for owning/leasing a car or having access to a car when needed, household living in a rural census tract, number of supercenters and superstores within 0.5 miles of the home, and distance to the nearest supercenter or superstore. Categories in which foods are commonly bought throughout the SNAP month are those where at least 30 percent (the median observed share across all categories) of households purchased an item in that category in both the first and second half of the SNAP month. See Online Appendix Table 5 for a list of the food categories that meet this definition.
All Foods Foods Commonly Bought throughout the SNAP Month Foods More Commonly Bought in the First Half of the SNAP Month Foods Less Commonly Bought in Either Half of the SNAP Month Purchased First Half of SNAP Month
(1)Purchased Second Half of SNAP Month
(2)Purchased First Half of SNAP Month
(3)Purchased Second Half of SNAP Month
(4)Purchased First Half of SNAP Month
(5)Purchased Second Half of SNAP Month
(6)Purchased First Half of SNAP Month
(7)Purchased Second Half of SNAP Month
(8)t +1 week −0.008
(0.008)−0.014**
(0.005)−0.003
(0.012)−0.010+
(0.006)−0.015**
(0.006)−0.013+
(0.008)0.003
(0.010)−0.020*
(0.011)t + 2 weeks 0.017**
(0.007)−0.002
(0.006)0.034**
(0.015)0.006
(0.005)−0.004
(0.005)0.008
(0.009)0.018
(0.022)−0.004
(0.009)t + 3 weeks 0.022**
(0.009)0.002
(0.006)0.031*
(0.016)0.008
(0.006)0.008+
(0.005)0.007
(0.011)0.012
(0.014)0.003
(0.009)Observations 1,420 1,660 1,336 1,436 1,152 1,176 1,016 1,060 Source: Authors’ estimates using FoodAPS data and the FoodAPS IRI subset.
↵Notes: Significance: +p < 0.15, *p < 0.10, **p < 0.05, ***p < 0.01. Survey weights applied in estimation and standard errors (in parentheses) adjust for complex survey design. First Half of SNAP Month = at least one survey day occurs less than seven days since SNAP was last received. Categories in which foods are commonly bought throughout the SNAP month are those where at least 30 percent (the median observed share across all categories) of households purchased an item in that category in both the first and second half of the SNAP month. Categories in which foods are more commonly bought in the first half of the SNAP month are those where at least 30 percent of households purchased an item in that category in the first half of the SNAP month but less than 30 percent of households purchase an item from that category in the second half of the SNAP month. Categories in which foods are less commonly bought in either half of the SNAP month are those where less than 30 percent of households purchased an item in that category in both the first and second half of the SNAP month. See Online Appendix Table 5 for a list of the two-digit food categories that meet these definitions.
Thrifty Food Plan Index SNAP Households in States with Compressed Benefit Distribution Schedules Non-SNAP Households: <185% Poverty Guideline in States with Compressed Benefit Distribution Schedules Non-SNAP Households: >185% Poverty Guideline in States with Compressed Benefit Distribution Schedules Purchased First Half of SNAP Month
(1)Purchased Second Half of SNAP Month
(2)Surveyed within Benefit Distribution Dates
(3)Surveyed outside of Benefit Distribution Dates
(4)Surveyed within Benefit Distribution Dates
(5)Surveyed outside of Benefit Distribution Dates
(6)Surveyed within Benefit Distribution Dates
(7)Surveyed outside of Benefit Distribution Dates
(8)t +1 week 0.002
(0.004)0.007
(0.006)−0.005
(0.006)−0.023**
(0.008)0.004
(0.010)−0.011
(0.009)−0.024***
(0.006)−0.019**
(0.008)t +2 weeks 0.001
(0.003)0.002
(0.004)0.016
(0.011)0.005
(0.010)0.029**
(0.013)0.012**
(0.004)−0.006
(0.007)−0.003
(0.007)t + 3 weeks −0.003
(0.004)0.008*
(0.004)0.024**
(0.011)0.008
(0.013)0.019
(0.017)0.020**
(0.008)0.006
(0.009)0.005
(0.006)Observations 1,732 2,052 676 788 468 720 980 1,324 Source: Authors’ estimates using FoodAPS data and the FoodAPS IRI subset.
Notes: Authors’ calculations using data from the National Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey, the IRI FoodAPS subset, and data from the SNAP Distribution Schedule Database (https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/snap-policy-data-sets/, accessed November 15, 2022). Survey weights applied in estimation and standard errors (in parentheses) adjust for complex survey design. Significance:
↵* p < 0.10,
↵** p < 0.05,
↵*** p < 0.01. First Half of SNAP Month = at least one survey day occurs less than seven days since SNAP was last received. States with compressed SNAP benefit distribution schedules are defined as states that distribute all SNAP benefits within ten or fewer consecutive days in the month. Within Benefit Distribution Dates = at least one survey day occurs within the state benefit distribution window.
First Half of SNAP Month Second Half of SNAP Month Difference N Seven-day volume index 1.07 0.94 0.13***
(0.03)1,304 Event volume index 1.06 0.95 0.10***
(0.02)1,304 Total food-at-home and food-away-from-home events 11.49 11.06 0.43
(0.77)1,304 Total food-at-home trips 4.03 4.02 0.01
(0.19)1,304 Total food-at-home trips excluding free events 3.80 3.61 0.19
(0.18)1,304 Total large-volume stores trips excluding free events 2.75 2.33 0.42***
(0.13)1,304 Conditional visits per store—food-at-home events 1.63 1.58 0.05
(0.06)1304 Conditional visits per store—not-free food-at-home events 1.66 1.56 0.10
(0.07)1,303 Conditional visits per store—not-free large-volume stores 1.69 1.58 0.11*
(0.06)1,217 Number of unique stores—food-at-home events 2.66 2.69 −0.03
(0.15)1,304 Number of unique stores—not-free food-at-home events 2.46 2.43 0.03
(0.13)1,303 Number of unique stores—not-free large-volume stores 1.79 1.65 0.14**
(0.07)1,217 Number of days with at least one food-at-home event 2.92 2.89 0.03
(0.10)1,304 Number of days with at least one not-free food-at-home event 2.79 2.65 0.14
(0.10)1,304 Number of days with at least one not-free large-volume stores event 2.18 1.89 0.29**
(0.11)1,304 Receipt savings 1.61 0.96 0.65**
(0.30)1,304 Percent savings of receipt total 0.01 0.01 −0.00
(0.00)1,304 Observed coupon use (transaction or item level) on receipt 0.23 0.13 0.10**
(0.04)1,304 Share of all expenditures on large items 0.39 0.39 −0.00
(0.02)1,273 Share of all items purchased that were in large packages 0.29 0.32 −0.03*
(0.02)1,282 Source: Authors’ estimates using FoodAPS data and the FoodAPS IRI subset.
Notes: Survey weights applied in estimation and standard errors (in parentheses) adjust for complex survey design. Significance:
↵* p < 0.10,
↵** p < 0.05,
↵*** p < 0.01. First Half of SNAP Month = at least one survey day occurs less than seven days since SNAP was last received.
Items Purchased in First Half of SNAP Month Items Purchased in Second Half of SNAP Month Mean percent cost increase for replacing relatively larger items with smallest sizes 10.2% 11.1% Mean percent cost increase for replacing relatively larger items with median sizes 5.1% 6.0% Mean percent cost increase for replacing only largest sizes with smallest sizes 5.3% 5.2% Mean percent cost increase for replacing only largest sizes with median sizes 3.0% 3.9% Observations 364 419 Source: Authors’ estimates using FoodAPS data and the FoodAPS IRI subset.
Notes: Survey weights applied in estimation of means to adjust for complex survey design. First Half of SNAP Month = at least one survey day occurs less than seven days since SNAP was last received.
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