Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
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Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program spending nearly doubled from the Fiscal Year 2019, the last budget not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, to the end of the Fiscal Year 2021, while enrollment saw an 16% increase.
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) reported SNAP benefits cost over $60.37 million in FY19. By the end of FY21, that number climbed to over $1.13 billion. That’s an increase of 87% from the start of the pandemic to this past year.
At the same time, average participation per state climbed from 35.7 thousand in 2019 – the lowest participation in a decade and the end of a six-year downward trend beginning in FY13 – to 41.5 thousand during FY21. That makes for a 16% increase in benefit enrollment during the pandemic.
This cost was primarily driven by a temporary boost in SNAP benefits to help offset the additional strain the pandemic put on families’ wallets.
A benefit changes explanation brochure on the FNS website reads: “In response to the pandemic, Congress temporarily increased SNAP benefits in two ways: raising all benefits by 15% and boosting every household to the maximum benefit for their household size. In April 2021, USDA took action to ensure that boost increased benefits for all households by at least $95 to help very low-income families who already received the maximum benefit – or close to it – before the pandemic.”
The 15% temporary increase expired on Sept. 30, 2021.
At the same time, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects participation to increase to around 43.5 million participants in 2023. That’s an additional 2 million new enrollments from this year’s 41.2 million.
“This post-recession uptick in SNAP is consistent with participation trends following past economic crises,” USDA officials noted in the agency’s budget notes for FY23, which will begin in October. “While participation is expected to increase, the overall cost of the program is expected to decrease.”
However, while the new high of $217.88 average monthly benefit per person seen in FY21 will go down, there will still be a permanent uptick from the $129.83 rate held during FY19. This is because Congress voted a permanent 40-cent per person, per meal increase to SNAP benefits following an evaluation of how much it costs to make meals.
That permanent increase began in October 2021 and will be reflected in budget numbers for FY22. A USDA flier illustrates a family of three who began the pandemic with $449 in monthly benefits and who will receive $598 when their state ends the covid emergency status.
Politico reported that SNAP expects to see an average cost of $157 per person.
SNAP benefits are only given to low-income families who do not exceed income limits and meet their state’s standards. It’s meant to supplement the food bills of these families through the use of an Electronic Benefits Transfer card that can be used at grocery stores for the purchase of food.