Estimating Rates of Participation in the Food Stamp Program: A Review of the Literature

Excerpts from the Executive Summary: This report reviews the literature on the estimated rates of participation in the Food Stamp Program (FSP), the only public assistance program without categorical restrictions that is available to low-income households. The estimated rates reported in the literature vary substantially--from 24 percent to 80 percent--depending on the measure, data source, and methodology employed. To offer insight into how to interpret these disparities, this review critically evaluates how the estimated rates differ, why they differ, and how they have changed over time. Now is an appropriate time to undertake such a review because a new data set, the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), contains more. and more detailed, information necessary to estimate with precision the number of FSP eligibles than any of the data sets previously employed. This report reviews the estimates of individual, household, and benefit rates of participation among the total FSP-eligible population. It focuses on the data and methodological issues causing the rates to vary and offers some guidance for those attempting to interpret the diverse rates.

执行摘要节选：本报告综述了关于食品券计划（Food Stamp Program, FSP）参与率估算的相关文献，FSP是面向低收入家庭的唯一无类别限制的公共援助项目。文献中报告的估算参与率差异显著——介于24%至80%之间——具体取决于所用的衡量指标、数据来源及方法学。为阐明如何解读这些差异，本综述批判性评估了估算参与率的差异表现、成因及随时间的变化趋势。当前是开展此类综述的恰当时机，因为新数据集“收入与项目参与调查”（Survey of Income and Program Participation, SIPP）相较于以往使用的任何数据集，包含了更多、更详细的信息，足以精准估算FSP合格者数量。本报告综述了FSP合格总人口中个体、家庭及福利参与率的估算结果，重点关注导致参与率差异的数据及方法学问题，并为试图解读这些多样化参与率的研究者提供若干指导。