U.S. Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs Continued To Respond to Economic and Public Health Conditions in Fiscal Year 2022

Economic conditions and other factors affect spending on USDA’s food and nutrition assistance programs by influencing the portion of the population that is eligible to participate, rates of participation, and benefit levels. Because these programs are means-tested, the portion of the population that is eligible to participate increases during economic downturns—when unemployment rates rise and incomes fall —as does the participation rate and the size of benefits for which participants are eligible. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides low-income households with additional resources to buy food and reaches tens of millions of people each month. As one of the Nation’s primary countercyclical programs, SNAP expands during economic downturns and contracts during periods of growth. Historically, the SNAP participation rate tends to track the unemployment and poverty rates.

经济环境与其他因素可通过影响符合项目参与资格的人口占比、参与率以及福利水平，对美国农业部（United States Department of Agriculture, USDA）食品营养援助项目的支出产生影响。由于此类项目均采用收入审查型资格认定机制，在经济下行期（即失业率上升、居民收入下降的阶段），符合参与资格的人口占比会随之提升，参与率与参与者可获得的福利额度亦会同步增长。补充营养援助计划（Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP）可为低收入家庭提供额外食品采购资金，每月惠及数千万民众。作为美国核心逆周期调节项目之一，SNAP会在经济下行期扩容，在经济增长阶段收缩。从历史数据来看，SNAP的参与率往往与失业率和贫困率的走势高度契合。