SNAP The Evolution of Households with SNAP, 1979-2024 James P. Ziliak

I provide a descriptive portrait of the trends in participation and composition of households receiving assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey for the calendar years 1979-2024. I first present estimates of participation overall and by socioeconomic characteristics of the householder. The share of households receiving SNAP increased from 8% to 10% over the sample period, with the most notable increases in participation rates among householders with some college education or less, those with a disability, those without children or living alone, and those households with gross family incomes placing them in near poverty. I then focus on the composition of households receiving SNAP in comparison to the overall population of households, including the share of householders by age, race/ethnicity, education attainment, nativity, disability, employment, and income. The heads of households receiving SNAP have become more educated over time with those with at least some college education tripling to 40%, and they have become older as the share of heads age 60 and older has doubled since the Great Recession to become the largest share by age. Households with SNAP are smaller today than in the past, with growth in 1-person households coming at the expense of those with 4 or more people. There has been a secular decline in the share of households with SNAP with family incomes in poverty, meaning a growing share are those with incomes two to three times the federal poverty level. This is consistent with rising participation rates of those with disabilities and those age 60 and older, each of whom is exempt from the gross-income test for eligibility. Despite the aging of householders with SNAP, the share of households with labor-market earnings has held steady at about 60%, and earnings comprises the largest and growing share of household disposable incomes.