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Title: The Labor Supply Response to Food Stamp Access

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2016

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Abstract: Welfare reform in 1996 dramatically reduced immigrants’ eligibility for Food Stamps, creating a new disparity in access between immigrants and natives. Subsequent policies restored eligibility for most immigrants at different times in different states, and this paper uses these changes to estimate the effect of the program on the labor supply of a specific, policy-relevant population. The Food Stamp program is among the largest safety net programs today, and my analysis provides one of the first quasi-experimental estimates of the effects of the modern Food Stamp program on adult labor supply. I find strong evidence of labor supply disincentives, and the magnitude and margin of this response varies across demographic groups. Access to the program reduces the employment rates of single women by about 6%, whereas married men continue to work but reduce their hours of work by 5%. These findings confirm the predictions of traditional labor supply theory regarding the response to a means-tested program.

Url: http://www.chloeneast.com/uploads/8/9/9/7/8997263/east_fs_ls.pdf

User Submitted?: No

Authors: East, Chloe, N

Publisher: University of Colorado Denver, Department of Economics

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Health, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

Countries: United States