NB22-11: Do State SNAP Policies Adversely Affect People with Disabilities?

This study will examine whether older people and people with disabilities in states that restrict Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) access are less likely to obtain SNAP benefits. People with disabilities tend to have low or no earnings and often rely on the social safety net for economic security. Food security is particularly important to the Social Security Administration (SSA) as malnourishment may exacerbate disability. The effect of SNAP access is also relevant to the SSA because SNAP benefits are a function of whether a person receives disability insurance. Much of the existing literature on SNAP access focuses on the general population while the disability literature occasionally mentions SNAP in passing. This project intends to bridge this gap by focusing on SNAP access among older people and people with disabilities.
To achieve this goal, we will produce a research manuscript that addresses the following aims:
• Conduct a thorough review of the scholarly literature, SNAP and its policies, and the disability insurance program and its rules
• Construct a dataset to be analyzed using publicly available surveys and policy databases
• Use the data to test whether there is causal evidence that restrictive SNAP policies reduce SNAP access for people with disabilities and older people by estimating difference-in-differences models