Detailed Objective: The objective of this research is to examine the linkages between the Food Stamp
Program (FSP), other welfare programs, and the general economy. The primary areas
of investigation include:
- examining the characteristics of the welfare assistance packages being developed
at the State level and assessing the impact they may have on Federal food assistance
program participation rates and expenditures;
-
examining the post-Temporary Assistance for Needy Families relationship between
national and State-level macroeconomic conditions and FSP participation and
benefit levels; and
-
linking an operational microsimulation model to an economy-wide model for
analysis of the FSP and its relation to other welfare programs and the general
economy.
The work will use a microsimulation model developed to simulate household responses
to changes in FSP, welfare, and child care policy. The work will address the
following three tasks: - how will changes in State TANF programs and State child care programs affect
State FSP participation and benefits;
-
how have changes in State unemployment rates affected State FSP participation
and benefits during the 1990s, and how will these effects differ as State TANF
programs vary in the future; and
-
how can the simulation model be linked to the Economic Research Service's
Computable General Equilibrium model of the agricultural sector and the economy
at large.
Simulations from the microsimulation model, under task 1 and 2 of this project,
provide one basis for assessing the relative impact of changes in State unemployment
rates and State welfare programs on the Food Stamp Program caseload and benefits.
A cooperative assistance agreement was awarded to Mathematica Policy Research,
Inc., (MPR) for $374,229 in fiscal 1998 to study the consequences of welfare
reform and economic change for the FSP and the economy as a whole The work is
expected to be completed by September, 2001. |