Children and Youth Receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits

Data Provider: NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

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Related Indicators:

• Children Receiving SNAP Benefits 0-17 yrs [view data]

Life Area:

Economic Security

Definition:

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federally-funded entitlement program designed to increase the food purchasing power of low-income households to a level that allows these households to purchase a low cost but nutritionally adequate diet.

Generally, households are expected to devote 30 percent of their countable income to food, including households whose only income is from public assistance. SNAP then provides the difference between that amount and the maximum benefit. Maximum benefits are generally set  at the amount needed to purchase the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Thrifty Food Plan. Income and resource limits in SNAP are somewhat higher than in public assistance programs, allowing more households to be eligible for SNAP than are eligible for public assistance. Consequently, more children in New York State receive SNAP than receive public assistance.

 

Significance:

The number and percent of children receiving SNAP benefits measures the extent to which children live in families that require governmental assistance to purchase a minimally adequate diet.

Findings:

• At the end of 2020, the number of children on SNAP was 921,282, or 22.6 percent of children in the State. This rate is 3.2 percentage points lower than at the end of 2015.
• The rate of SNAP receipt among children varied greatly across the state, ranging from a high of 31.2 percent in Sullivan County to a low of 3.0 percent in Putnam County. New York City’s rate of 30.7 percent was among the highest in the State. The combined rate for non-New York City districts was 16.6 percent.