Food Stamp Program Participation Rates Among the Poverty Population, 1980-1987

Excerpts from the Executive Summary: The Bureau of the Census reports that 32.6 million persons were in poverty in 1987. Since the Food Stamp Program (FSP) is the only assistance program without categorical restrictions that is widely available to low-income households, the question naturally arises as to what proportion of persons in poverty actually receive food stamps. There are important differences, however, between the official definition of poverty and the definition of need used in determining eligibility for food stamp assistance. Thus, a more meaningful question is what percentage of the poverty population eligible for assistance actually receives food stamps. This paper reports estimates of the FSP participation rate among the eligible poverty population for each year from 1980 to 1987. The participation rate is a ratio, with the numerator being the average monthly number of FSP participants with household income at or below the official poverty line and the denominator being the number of persons in poverty who were eligible for food stamps. The estimates reported here represent a substantial improvement in accuracy and consistency over previous estimates because they are based on more accurate adjustments now made possible with information in the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP).