Why Do Low-Income Households not Use Food Stamps? Evidence from an Experiment

This paper explores why many low-income households do not participate in the Food Stamp Program. By analyzing detailed income and asset data from a sample of low-income households, we find that many households that appear to be eligible for food stamps in fact are not eligible. By conducting an expe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of human resources 1999-07, Vol.34 (3), p.612-628
Main Authors: Daponte, Beth Osborne, Sanders, Seth, Taylor, Lowell
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asset income
Assistance
Bank assets
Censuses
Effects
Electronics benefit transfer
Entitlement programs
Evaluation
Experiments
Food aid
Food relief
Food stamp program
Food stamps
Gross income
Household income
Households
Human resources
Information
Low Income
Low income groups
Pension eligibility
Poor
Poverty
Services
Studies
U.S.A
United States
Welfare
Welfare policy
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Summary:This paper explores why many low-income households do not participate in the Food Stamp Program. By analyzing detailed income and asset data from a sample of low-income households, we find that many households that appear to be eligible for food stamps in fact are not eligible. By conducting an experiment designed to investigate the role of information on participation in the Food Stamp Program, we observe that ignorance about the program contributes to nonparticipation. However, there is evidence that knowledge about the program is endogenous-households generally avail themselves of information about the program when the anticipated benefits of doing so are large.
ISSN:0022-166X
1548-8004
DOI:10.2307/146382