Food Stamp Program/SNAP FACTS from USDA

FACT vs. FICTION: USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Below is a reprint of a June 24th posting to USDA’s Blog by Aaron Lavallee of USDA’s Office of Communications.

Over the last 15 years, the USDA has made great strides in our efforts to reduce fraud and abuse in its programs. Payment accuracy has never been higher: in FY 2010, 96.19 percent of all benefits were issued correctly, the fourth consecutive year the program has achieved a historically high rate. Without this improvement, the cost of improper payments would have been $356 million higher. Trafficking in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has also declined, from four percent of benefits to its current level of one percent. While these are positive trends, any trafficking or error is too much, and we will continue to be aggressive in efforts to improve integrity and maintain public confidence that benefits are being used responsibly. But we know that misinformation and confusion about SNAP exists and so we have highlighted some of the most common misconceptions and presented the facts below.

Most SNAP benefits are going to people who could be working.
This is FICTION.

Most SNAP recipients were children or elderly. Nearly half (48 percent) were children and another 8 percent were age 60 or older. Working-age women represented 28 percent of the caseload, while working-age men represented 16 percent.

People on SNAP benefits are not employed.
This is FICTION.

Many SNAP recipients are currently employed but they still need some assistance so that they can put nutritious food on the table for their families. More than 29 percent of SNAP households had earnings in 2009, and 40 percent of all SNAP participants lived in a household with earnings. For these households, earnings were the primary source of income.

The majority of SNAP households do not receive cash welfare benefits.
This is FACT.

Less than 10 percent of all SNAP households received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits and another 5 percent received State General Assistance (GA) benefits. About 24 percent of SNAP households received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and over 22 percent received Social Security.

Most SNAP recipients are also on cash welfare and that trend is getting worse.
This is FICTION.

The primary source of income among SNAP participants shifted from welfare to work. In 1989, 42 percent of all SNAP households received cash welfare benefits and only 20 percent had earnings. In 2009, less than 10 percent received cash welfare, while 29 percent had earnings.

The SNAP program is full of errors and people are getting more benefits than they qualify for.
This is FICTION.

USDA and state partners are working diligently to improve payment accuracy and program integrity in SNAP. This year we announced that SNAP achieved the highest accuracy rate in history of the program. The FY 2010 national payment error rate of 3.81 percent represents the lowest rate in the history of the program and includes both overpayments and underpayments. Payment accuracy is providing the correct amount of SNAP benefits to eligible households and making sure that no one gets too little or too much in benefits—a shared goal of USDA and partner states.

Source and for more info here.

SNAP is full of fraud and trafficking is rampant.
This is FICTION.

Due to increased oversight and improvements to program management by USDA, the trafficking rate has fallen significantly over the last two decades, from about 4 cents on the dollar in 1993 to about 1 cent in 2006-08.

Source & for more info here.

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