Prices of Purchased Goods in Subsequent Weeks
| 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.