Why food stamp payments have soared, even as labor market recovers
Zachary Halaschak
Video Embed
Spending on food stamp benefits has hovered at high levels even as the pandemic has abated despite unemployment hitting ultra-low levels this past year.
Spending on food stamp benefits is about double what it was pre-pandemic despite the strides the economy has made. In February 2020, about $4.5 billion in food stamp benefits were paid out. Spending rose dramatically in response to the coronavirus and remains exceedingly high. Total distributions hit roughly $9.3 billion in September of last year, more than double its pre-pandemic level.
In a report released on Tuesday, the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative organization based in Florida, laid the blame on emergency allotments, which are a supplement to food stamp benefits that were introduced early in the pandemic and continue to be sent out despite the economy sporting such a low unemployment rate.
SNAP spending per individual Infogram
Emergency allotments supercharged the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by increasing the SNAP benefit to the maximum level for all households, regardless of income. Proponents of the policy argued that it would help get impoverished families through the worst of the pandemic as unemployment soared, but now some are wondering why the program has been allowed to continue into 2023 despite the economy’s recovery.
BIDEN CLAIMS RECORD JOB CREATION — HERE ARE THE FACTS AND CONTEXT
The entire emergency allotment program across the country is set to sunset in February, so all SNAP beneficiaries will no longer be able to claim them come March. FGA urged against any action to bolster the supercharged food stamp program or expand it beyond its normal levels once March rolls around.
“Congress should also resist any further attempts by the Biden administration to expand food stamp benefits by legislation, and should hold the administration accountable for legally questionable expansions of the program by executive action,” the report reads.
SNAP sets maximum levels for benefits meant for families that register no income. As income increases in households, the benefit is slowly phased out, according to Angela Rachidi, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The emergency allotments allow for that maximum level of assistance for all households.
“They basically eliminated that phase-out and just gave everybody the maximum,” she told the Washington Examiner of the government’s emergency allotments.
The emergency allotments were approved as part of the Families First Act in March 2020 and were authorized to stay in place as long as there was a federal and state public health emergency. The health emergency has been extended by executive action since then, although last year’s congressional appropriations bill ends the allotments in February.
Another increase in benefits came in April 2021, when the Department of Agriculture announced additional increases of up to $95 for households that didn’t qualify for the original boost because they were already at the maximum level when the emergency allotments came down the pipeline.
Ryan Young, a senior economist at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he has been surprised at the level of benefits that many food stamp recipients are receiving, even when cost-of-living adjustments are considered.
“Even with inflation, it’s not even close,” Young told the Washington Examiner.
Total enrollment in the food stamp program grew over the course of the pandemic. Enrollment grew from 36.9 million in February 2020 to 41.7 million by September of last year — a 13% increase.
However, that increase is not massive by recent historical standards: More were receiving benefits as recently as 2017.
“I’m actually surprised, pleasantly, by how little participation increased,” said Young, who noted he was more focused on the ballooning amount of money that the government has been spending on benefits per household.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
While the emergency allotments are set to expire and all SNAP households return to normal amounts by March, 18 states have prematurely ended their participation in the program. In its report, FGA pointed out that all of the increased spending related to food stamp benefits has cost taxpayers a pretty penny.
“All told, since the start of the pandemic, taxpayers have been on the hook for more than $265 billion in food stamp benefits. In fact, the average food stamp benefit for an individual has increased from $121.13 to $224.10, an increase of more than $100 per month,” FGA said.