| Project: Employment Status and Food Stamp Program Participation as Determinants of Eating Patterns of Low-Income Households |
| Award Year: 2007 |
| Amount of award, fiscal 2007: $150,000.00 |
| Institution: Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation |
| Principal Investigator: Geetha Waehrer |
| Status: Completed |
| Detailed Objective: Despite the post-welfare reform emphasis on promoting work among the low-income population, little is known about how employment-related time constraints alter meal preparation and consumption patterns among low-income households. Employed individuals tend to consume more food away from home. But because of its emphasis on purchasing food for home consumption, the Food Stamp Program (FSP) may counterbalance this tendency. This study will draw on the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) for data on time use, and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for data on types and sources of food consumed. Bivariate tabulations and simple multivariate analyses will be used to describe how time spent in food preparation and shares of calories from different food sources vary by gender, race/ethnicity, income, and day-of-week. A treatment effects model for nonlinear outcomes will be used to account for the endogeneity of program participation and employment status and to estimate effects on food preparation time and eating patterns. The study will focus on low-income heads of household between the ages 18 and 64. State-level data on FSP and cash assistance program rules, FSP error rates, and economic conditions will be linked to the survey records to aid in identification of the treatment effects. |
| Topic: Dietary Intake and Quality, SNAP/Food Stamp Program, Time Use |
| Dataset: American Time Use Survey (ATUS), National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) |
Output:
Waehrer, G., and P. Deb. Food Stamp Effects on Food Preparation and Consumption Patterns, Contractor and Cooperator Report No. 75, USDA, ERS, June 2012. |