| Project: Local Area Determinants of Nutrition Assistance Program Caseloads |
| Award Year: 2011 |
| Amount of award, fiscal 2011: $221,000.00 |
| Institution: Public Policy Institute of California |
| Principal Investigator: Caroline Danielson |
| Status: Ongoing |
| Detailed Objective: This project uses geographically disaggregated food assistance program caseloads and measures of the economy to improve our understanding of how participation in the three largest U.S. nutrition assistance programs—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)—varies with the state of the local economy. The project uses data from 2000 to 2011, constructing sub-State (usually county) caseloads for all three programs, and using information on local economic conditions from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The study will estimate the effects of the economy on the three nutrition assistance program caseloads, using econometric methods that allow for the identification of the effects of economic conditions that have varied both across geographic areas and over time. |
| Topic: Macroeconomic Conditions, School Lunch and Breakfast, SNAP/Food Stamp Program, WIC |