Estimating the Associations between SNAP and Food Insecurity, Obesity, and Food Purchases with Imperfect Administrative Measures of Participation

Courtemanche, Charles; Denteh, Augustine; Tchernis, Rusty

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3140806

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…We imputed refund size using the TAXSIM package for Stata, based on IRS tax tables; inputs included pretax household income, number of children, marital status, age, and tax year. MEPS queries subjects about whether they received an EITC refund but not the amount, and numerous prior studies have shown that self‐reported receipt of EITC and other welfare benefits is neither sensitive nor specific and may bias results . We therefore assumed that all individuals received the refund for which they were eligible, which is analogous to an intent‐to‐treat approach in a randomized controlled trial.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The short‐term effects of the earned income tax credit on health care expenditures among US adults

Hamad

Niedzwiecki

2019

Health Services Research

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Objective To test the hypothesis that the earned income tax credit (EITC)—the largest US poverty alleviation program—affects short‐term health care expenditures among US adults. Data Sources Adult participants in the 1997‐2012 waves of the US Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) (N = 1 282 080). Study Design We conducted difference‐in‐differences analyses, comparing health care expenditures among EITC‐eligible adults in February (immediately following EITC refund receipt) with expenditures during other months, using non‐EITC‐eligible individuals to difference out seasonal variation in health care expenditures. Outcomes included total out‐of‐pocket expenditures as well as spending on specific categories such as outpatient visits and inpatient hospitalizations. We conducted subgroup analyses to examine heterogeneity by insurance status. Principal Findings EITC refund receipt was not associated with short‐term changes in total expenditures, nor any expenditure subcategories. Results were similar by insurance status and robust to numerous alternative specifications. Conclusions EITC refunds are not associated with short‐term changes in health care expenditures among US adults. This may be because the refund is spent on other expenses, because of income smoothing, or because of similar refund‐related variation in health care expenditures among noneligible adults. Future studies should examine whether other types of income supplementation affect health care expenditures, particularly among individuals in poverty.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The short‐term effects of the earned income tax credit on health care expenditures among US adults

Hamad

Niedzwiecki

2019

Health Services Research

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“…Administrative data can contain substantial amount of error, see Niehaus and Sukhtankar (2013) for an extreme case. See Courtemanche, Denteh and Tchernis (2019) and Meyer and Mittag (2019b) for a discussion of a specific linked data source. We discuss likely inaccuracies and their consequences in section IVc.…”

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confidence: 99%

Errors in Survey Reporting and Imputation and Their Effects on Estimates of Food Stamp Program Participation

Meyer

Mittag

Goerge³

2020

J. Human Resources

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Accurately measuring government benefit receipt in household surveys is necessary when studying disadvantaged populations and the programs that serve them. The Food Stamp Program is especially important given its size and recent growth. To validate survey reports, we use administrative data on participation in two states linked to the American Community Survey (ACS), the Current Population Survey (CPS), and the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP). We find that 23 percent of true food stamp recipient households do not report receipt in the SIPP, 35 percent in the ACS, and fully 50 percent in the CPS. A substantial number of true non-recipients are also recorded as recipients, especially in the SIPP. We examine reasons for these errors including imputation, an important source of error. Both false negative and false positive reports vary with household characteristics, implying complicated biases in multivariate analyses, such as regressions. We then directly examine biases in common survey-based estimates of program receipt by comparing them to estimates from our combined administrative and survey data. We find that the survey estimates understate participation among single parents, non-whites, and low-income households, and also lead to errors in multiple program receipt, and time and age patterns of receipt.

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“…Third, as with all surveys on public program participation, there is likely to be some under-identification of program participation [ 29 ]. Self-reported program participation may be particularly problematic for some programs such as SNAP [ 30 ], although we have no reason to believe that reporting bias will be differential between people who experienced COVID-19 employment loss versus those that did not. Fourth, we only asked about past and current use of safety net programs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Access and enrollment in safety net programs in the wake of COVID-19: A national cross-sectional survey

et al. 2020

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The global COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented job loss and financial strain. It is unclear how those most directly experiencing economic impacts may seek assistance from disparate safety net programs. To identify self-reported economic hardship and enrollment in major safety net programs before and early in the COVID-19 pandemic, we compared individuals with COVID-19 related employment or earnings reduction with other individuals. We created a set of questions related to COVID-19 economic impact that was added to a cross-sectional, nationally representative online survey of American adults (age �18, English-speaking) in the AmeriSpeak panel fielded from April 23-27, 2020. All analyses were weighted to account for survey non-response and known oversampling probabilities. We calculated unadjusted bivariate differences, comparing people with and without COVID-19 employment and earnings reductions with other individuals. Our study looked primarily at awareness and enrollment in seven major safety net programs before and since the pandemic (Medicaid, health insurance marketplaces/exchanges, unemployment insurance, food pantries/free meals, housing/renters assistance, SNAP, and TANF). Overall, 28.1% of all individuals experienced an employment reduction (job loss or reduced earnings). Prior to the pandemic, 39.0% of the sample was enrolled in �1 safety net program, and 50.0% of individuals who subsequently experienced COVID-19 employment reduction were enrolled in at least one safety net program. Those who experienced COVID-19 employment reduction versus those who did not were significantly more likely to have applied or enrolled in �1 program (45.9% versus 11.7%, p<0.001) and also significantly more likely to specifically have enrolled in unemployment insurance (29.4% versus 5.4%, p < .001) and SNAP (16.8% versus 2.8%, p = 0.028). The economic devastation from COVID-19 increases the importance of a robust safety net.

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Estimating the Associations between SNAP and Food Insecurity, Obesity, and Food Purchases with Imperfect Administrative Measures of Participation

Abstract: helpful comments. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peer-reviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

The short‐term effects of the earned income tax credit on health care expenditures among US adults

The short‐term effects of the earned income tax credit on health care expenditures among US adults

Errors in Survey Reporting and Imputation and Their Effects on Estimates of Food Stamp Program Participation

Access and enrollment in safety net programs in the wake of COVID-19: A national cross-sectional survey

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