Early SNAP Emergency Allotment Withdrawal and Household Food Insufficiency.

Introduction: To mitigate increases in food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture allowed states to distribute emergency allotments (EA) to households participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which substantially increased benefit amounts. EA were available through March 2023, but 18 states chose to withdraw from EA early. The purpose of this study is to estimate the effect of early EA withdrawal among SNAP-eligible households.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Household Pulse Survey from January 2021-February 2023. Analyses were restricted to 290,752 households living in one of the 18 states that withdrew EA early and that were estimated to be SNAP-eligible based upon state-specific eligibility criteria. Staggered difference-in-differences models estimated effects of SNAP EA withdrawal on food insufficiency overall and by household income because relatively higher-income households experienced greater reductions in benefits. Analyses were conducted in 2024.

Results: Twenty-three percent of households reported experiencing food insufficiency before early EA withdrawal. EA withdrawal was associated with a 3.6 (95% CI: 1.0-6.3) percentage-point increase in household food insufficiency, a relative increase of 16%. Food insufficiency increased more for higher-income households (change=7.9 percentage points, 95% CI: 2.0-13.8) than for the lowest-income households (change=2.2 percentage points, 95% CI: -0.9-5.5).

Conclusions: Early withdrawal of SNAP EA was associated with increased household food insufficiency, especially for households that experienced the greatest reduction in benefits. Higher SNAP benefit amounts may be warranted given the large number of households that continue to experience food insufficiency in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.