Working Poor Families: What Employment Characteristics Influence Their Food Stamp Participation?

Signe-Mary McKernan, Urban Institute
Caroline Ratcliffe, Urban Institute

The Food Stamp Program experienced an unprecedented decline in participation during the mid- to late-1990s. In response to declining participation rates, many states are re-engineering their programs to improve accessibility, especially for the working poor. States are making policy decisions without the benefit of knowing who the working poor are, what their employment characteristics look like, and how these characteristics influence food stamp participation. This study uses longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to describe the employment characteristics of working food stamp recipients and to estimate the effect of these employment characteristics on Food Stamp Program participation in the pre- and post-welfare reform periods. We estimate logit models and fixed-effect logit models that control for the endogeneity of employment status. Results indicate that employment characteristics (such as working traditional hours, working full-time) and food stamp recertification policies are important determinants of food stamp participation.