Microeconomic Insights

Microeconomic Insights

Microeconomic Insights

Microeconomic Insights

About MI
Development
Environment
Health
International Trade
Labour Markets
Organisation of Markets
Public Finance

About
Editors
Sponsors
Contact

© 2025

Creative Commons
Corrections
Colophon
Cookies

Sign up to our newsletter

Follow us

About MI
Development
Environment
Health
International Trade
Labour Markets
Organisation of Markets
Public Finance

Colophon

This website is powered by WordPress, with a custom theme designed and developed by fire and flux.

The fonts used are Google Fonts Merriweather and Merriweather Sans by Eden Sorkin.

Past Highlight

Photo by Lukas Budimaier via Unsplash, used under CC by 2.0 / Desaturated from original with colour filter

2 April 2019 Public Finance Authors: Justine Hastings (Brown University), Jesse M. Shapiro (Brown University)

How do American families spend food benefits?

More than 19 million US households are enrolled in SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides monthly benefits to buy groceries at a wide range of retailers. This research tests how recipients’ spending changes after they join the program – and in particular whether SNAP benefits affect their purchases of food by more than an equivalent cash benefit. The results indicate that a family receiving, say, a $200 monthly SNAP benefit can be expected to increase its monthly expenditure on groceries by $100, far more than the $20 expected rise in food spending from a cash benefit of comparable size.

About
Editors
Sponsors
Contact

© 2025

Creative Commons
Corrections
Colophon
Cookies

Hosted by IFS

Supported by