A 20-Year Look at SNAP Participation and Costs
In a new report, Angela Rachidi of AEI reviews the history and cost of SNAP participation over the past two decades, paying special attention to the increase during the pandemic. She says that recent policy changes to the size of benefits have led total SNAP benefit costs to skyrocket while SNAP caseloads remain elevated, even as unemployment improves. This year, the federal government is on track to double the total amount spent on SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2019, adding an extra $50 billion. She stresses that although some of the benefit increases will expire at the end of the pandemic, the elevated caseloads and those permanent increases will result in larger annual SNAP spending in the long term.