Estimates of State Food Stamp Participation Rates in 2002-2003 for All Eligible People and for the Working Poor
Mathematica Policy Research
The Food Stamp Program is a central component of American policy to alleviate hunger and poverty.
The Food Stamp Program is the largest of the domestic food and nutrition assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service.
This report presents estimates that, for each state, measure the need for the Food Stamp Program and the program's effectiveness in both 2002 and 2003.
In addition to the participation rates that pertain to all eligible people, we derived estimates of participation rates for the "working poor," that is, people who were eligible for the Food Stamp Program and lived in households in which someone earned income from a job.
The estimates for all eligible people and for the working poor were derived jointly using empirical Bayes shrinkage estimation methods and data from the Current Population Survey, the decennial census, and administrative records.
The predictions were based on observed indicators of socioeconomic conditions in the states, such as the percentage of the total state population receiving food stamps.
