NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Are nutrition assistance programs like food stamps or SNAP hurting or helping those who receive them?
Lawmakers are trying to answer that question as they debate how much money should be put into the program. Now, there's a study that looks at the impact of the SNAP program.
The study comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research. It found that children who received food stamps were more likely to be employed and earn higher incomes later in life, making them less likely to be in need of SNAP as an adult. The study's author, Maya Rossin-Slater, says the results show SNAP could be looked at as an investment in the next generation.
"We also found that having access to the food stamps in the early childhood period as well as in later childhood reduced the likelihood of adult incarceration. And this effect was actually concentrated among non-white men in our analysis sample," Rossin-Slater said.
In Davidson County, 64,000 people received those benefits last month.
Researchers analyzed data from 17 million Americans starting from the time food stamps rolled out in the 60s and 70s on a county-by-county basis.
"We found that having access to the food stamps program, especially before age five, has fairly large impact on a range of outcomes measured in adulthood. So, in particular, we analyzed impacts on various measures of educational attainment. So, from just a total number of years of schooling that someone received to whether or not they attended or graduated college. We also found impacts on various measures of adult income as well as the quality of the neighborhoods in which people reside in as adults," Rossin-Slater said.
More benefits could be coming through the 2023 Farm bill, which is passed once every five years. The majority of the bill's funding helps to manage nutrition assistance programs. This study into food stamps helps to give lawmakers some insight.
