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Background 

In an average month in 2008, about 28.4 million 

people living in 12.7 million households 

participated in the Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States.1

 

SNAP households are a diverse group. Because 

benefits are available to most low-income 

households with few resources, regardless of age, 

disability status, or family structure, recipients 

represent a broad cross-section of the Nation's 

poor. This report provides information about the 

demographic and economic circumstances of 

SNAP households in fiscal year 2008. 

Findings: General Characteristics 

Most SNAP recipients were children or elderly. 

Nearly half (49 percent) were children and another 

9 percent were age 60 or older. Working-age 

women represented 28 percent of the caseload, 

while working-age men represented 14 percent. 

 

Many SNAP recipients had jobs. More than 29 

percent of SNAP households had earnings in 2008, 

and 40 percent of all SNAP participants lived in a 

household with earnings. For these households, 

earnings were the primary source of income. 

 

The majority of SNAP households did not 

receive cash welfare benefits. Less than 11 

percent of all SNAP households received 

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families 

(TANF) benefits and another 5 percent received 

State General Assistance (GA) benefits. Two 

other targeted benefit programs were major 

sources of income for the elderly and disabled: 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI), received by 

26 percent and Social Security, received by 25 

percent (10 percent received both). 

 

 

1

 On October 1, 2008, the Food Stamp Program 

changed its name to the Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP). 

SNAP households had little income. Only 13 

percent had income above the poverty line, while 

nearly 41 percent had incomes at, or below, half 

the poverty line. Nearly 16 percent had no cash 

income of any kind. The typical SNAP household 

had gross income of $701 per month. About 24 

percent of monthly funds (gross income plus 

SNAP benefits) available to a typical household 

came from SNAP. 

The average SNAP household received a 

monthly benefit of $222. About 33 percent 

received the maximum benefit for their family size 

--$542 for a family of four. Less than 7 percent 

received the minimum benefit of $10 (which was 

available to households of one or two members in 

2008); most (90 percent) of these households 

contained elderly or disabled members and were 

likely receiving Supplemental Security Income or 

Social Security. 

SNAP households had few resources. The 

average SNAP household possessed only about 

$25 in countable resources (including the 

nonexcluded portion of vehicles and the entire 

value of checking and savings accounts and other 

savings). Nearly three-fourths (73 percent) had no 

countable resources. However, it should be noted 

that over half of SNAP households are 

categorically eligible (households where all 

members receive TANF, SSI, or GA benefits) and 

thus neither subject to the asset test nor required to 

provide information about their assets. 

 

Most SNAP households were small. The 

average SNAP household size was 2.2 persons, 

but varied considerably by household composition. 

Households with children were relatively large, 

averaging 3.3 members. Households with elderly 

participants were smaller, with an average of 1.3 

members. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPPLEMENTAL NUTRITION 

ASSISTANCE PROGRAM HOUSEHOLDS: FISCAL YEAR 2008 –

SUMMARY

Office of Research and Analysis October 2009 
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Findings: Changes Over Time 

There have been several notable changes in the 

characteristics of SNAP households over the 20 

years from 1989 to 2008. Some of the most 

striking changes are noted here. 

The primary source of income among SNAP 

participants shifted from welfare to work. In 

1989, 42 percent of all SNAP households received 

cash welfare benefits and only 20 percent had 

earnings. In 2008, only 11 percent received cash 

welfare, while 29 percent had earnings. 

The percentage of households with no cash 

income of any kind more than doubled. In 

1989, 7 percent of SNAP households had zero 

gross income. This increased to 16 percent in 

2008. Similarly, the percentage of SNAP 

households with zero net income, who received 

the maximum benefit, rose from 18 percent in 

1990 to 33 percent in 2008. 

The average SNAP household’s income 

remained close to 60 percent of the poverty 

level. When SNAP participation levels decline, 

average household income rise slightly. 

Conversely, income falls when participation levels 

increase. However, the variation is small, ranging 

from an average income that is 56 percent of 

poverty, when caseloads were rising rapidly in 

1993, to 63 percent of the poverty level in 2000, 

when caseloads were low. 

Households have gotten smaller. In 1990, the 

average SNAP household contained 2.6 persons. 

In 2008, the average had fallen to 2.2 persons. 

During this period, households with one person 

rose from 32 percent of all households to 46 

percent. 

The percentage of participants who are 

children remained fairly steady. In 1990, half of 

participants were under age 18, about the same 

percentage as in 2008. However, the share of 

households with children fell from 60 percent in 

1990 to 51 percent in 2007. This is primarily due 

to an increase in single-person households. 

The number of households with elderly 

participants has increased in recent years. 

Factors that drive participation changes, such as 

the strength of the economy and welfare policies, 

typically do not affect the elderly as much. As a 

result, there has been little fluctuation in the 

number of elderly participants. However, between 

2005 and 2008, the number of households with an 

elderly member rose from 1.8 million households 

to 2.3 million, a greater gain than the overall 

SNAP caseload. 

For More Information 

Wolkwitz, Kari and Trippe, Carole (2009). 

Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program Households: Fiscal Year 2008. Prepared by 

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., for the Food and 

Nutrition Service (available on-line at 

www.fns.usda.gov/ora). 

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race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, 

religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s 

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disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, 

etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). 

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, 

S.W., Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal 

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