Reasons for Nonparticipation in the Food Stamp Program
1984; Volume: 09; Issue: 01 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2327-8285
AutoresJames R. Blaylock, David M. Smallwood,
Tópico(s)Income, Poverty, and Inequality
ResumoThis paper analyzes, via a multinomial logit model, the associations between household socioeconomic characteristics and the reasons eligible households give for not entering the Food Stamp Program. Data were taken from the 1979-80 Low Income Supplemental Sample of the USDA Nationwide Food Consumption Survey. Statistical analysis revealed that households either residing in suburban areas, with employed members, or whose head is a high school graduate cited a lack of information about the program as the reason for nonparticipation more frequently than their counterparts without one of these characteristics. An examination of alternative household profiles indicates that government efforts to disseminate information about the Food Stamp Program have been generally successful in reaching those households usually identified as most in need of assistance. The Food Stamp Program (FSP) is a voluntary federal assistance program designed to augment food expenditures of eligible households via a transfer of inkind income. This transfer, termed the allotment, is in the form of stamps which can be used only for the purchase of food. The rapid growth in the FSP, from $5.5 billion in 1978 to about $12 billion in 1983, has led to an increased demand for understanding the economic aspects of program participation/nonparticipation and program effects. Given the pressures to restrain the cost of the program, it is imperative that the program utilize its scarce resources to attract those households most in need of assistance. Hence, it is important to study the participation decision and to isolate those characteristics, of both eligible nonparticipating and participating households, which are related to this de
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