Changes to SNAP and WIC Benefits on Participant Diet
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Project Summary
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are critical nutrition assistance programs for households with lower income. SNAP benefits increased greatly at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 in order to protect participating households' food security, but most of these supplemental benefits were removed in March 2023 when the public health emergency ended. The WIC Cash Value Benefit for fruits and vegetables also increased during the pandemic and this increase has remained in place. How do these large changes in food assistance benefits affect participants' ability to eat a healthy diet?
This study seeks to understand the impact of pandemic-related changes to SNAP and WIC benefits on participants' food purchasing behaviors. Specifically, we aim to understand the impact of these changes on all participants, among groups with worse food access and higher risk of nutrition-related chronic disease (e.g., rural participants, those with low economic stability), and in the context of concurrent economic, social, community, and retail factors. We are using a mixed-methods approach that combines a quasi-experiment of household supermarket purchases (using point-of-sale data) with qualitative interviews of both participants and those working in the larger food system.
Studying the impact of SNAP and WIC changes on household purchases
To understand the effects of pandemic-related changes to SNAP and WIC benefits on household purchases, our team is working with a large supermarket chain in New England with whom we have partnered for over 10 years. The chain has provided our team with comprehensive, item-level transaction data across all of its ~200 stores from 2018 onward. The data include information on all products purchased (including price, quantity, and nutrition information) as well as whether the transaction was paid using SNAP and/or WIC benefits. We are leveraging this dataset and using quasi-experimental methods to understand how overall nutritional quality of purchases changed for SNAP and WIC participants in response to changes in benefit amounts.
Examining differences by household characteristics
Pandemic-related changes to SNAP and WIC benefits may not have affected all participating households equally. In particular, rural households and households with lower economic stability (e.g., those experiencing poverty or unemployment) may have benefited less from an increase in benefits due to having less access to healthy food. To examine this, we enrolled a <<cohort of 2,500 supermarket shoppers>> whose sales data we collected from our supermarket chain partner. We provided these cohort members with surveys to collect data on their demographics, household characteristics, housing, food security, and participation in safety net programs over the pandemic period. We are using these data to understand whether changes in SNAP and WIC benefits had different effects among rural (vs. non-rural) households, as well as among those with lower (vs. higher) economic stability.
Exploring contextual factors that affected SNAP participants' food purchases during the pandemic
SNAP participants' food purchases were influenced by many individual- and system-level factors during the COVID-19 pandemic, including economic, community, social, and retail factors. To understand factors that contributed to participants' ability to eat healthfully during the pandemic, we conducted <<qualitative interviews with SNAP participants,>> exploring issues such as the effects of school closures, job loss, inflation, and many others. To enrich our understanding, we also conducted interviews with system-level representatives, including individuals working at SNAP state agencies, in food pantries, and in the retail sector. Together, these interviews are enhancing our knowledge of the many different factors that affected SNAP participants' ability to eat healthfully during the pandemic.