SNAP Receipt in the Survey of Income 

and Program Participation (SIPP): 

Using Administrative Records to 

Evaluate Data Quality

Katherine Giefer

Michael D. King

Veronica Roth

U.S. Census Bureau

The Census Bureau has reviewed this data product to ensure appropriate access, use, and disclosure avoidance 

protection of the confidential source data used to produce this product. Data Management System (DMS) 

number: P-7503064, Disclosure Review Board (DRB) approval number: CBDRB-FY22-SEHSD003-056.
Disclaimer

This paper is released to inform interested parties of ongoing research 

and to encourage discussion of work in progress. All views and any 

errors are solely those of the authors and do not reflect those of the 

U.S. Census Bureau. 

2
Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP)

• Provides low-income households with monthly benefits to purchase 

food

• Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, SNAP covered more than 35 million 

people each month

3
Accuracy of Survey Reports

• Aggregate program receipt totals tend to be low in national surveys

• SIPP historically produces higher receipt rates than other surveys 

(e.g., CPS ASEC), but still underestimates official records

• Most common misreporting are those who appear in adrecs as 

recipients but who do not report that receipt in the survey

• 40–50% of individuals in CPS ASEC (2009–2015)

• 25% of households in ACS (2008–2012)

• 17% of individuals and 18% of households in 2008 SIPP panel (2007–2012)

4
Building On Prior Work

• Examination of redesigned SIPP survey

• Administrative records from 12 states

• Annual and monthly comparisons

• How do annual, person-level SNAP reports in SIPP compare to administrative 

records? 

• How does annual report accuracy compare to prior research? 

• How do monthly, person-level SNAP reports in SIPP compare to administrative 

records? 

5
Data – SIPP

• Nationally representative, longitudinal survey 

• Employment, income, household composition, and eligibility for and 

participation in government assistance programs

• 2014–2020 SIPP (calendar years 2013–2019) 

• Individual annual and monthly indicators of SNAP receipt

6
Data – SNAP Administrative Records

• State-specific

• Each state-year harmonized and benchmarked

• Individual, monthly-level data

7
Data – SNAP Administrative Records

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Connecticut ● ● ● ○ ○ ○ –

Hawaii ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Idaho ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Indiana ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Maryland ● ● ● ● – – –

Michigan ○ ○ ○ ○ – – – – Data not available at Census

Mississippi ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ○ Data available but not used

Nevada ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Data available and used

New York ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

North Dakota – ● ● ● ● ● ○

Oregon ● ● ● ● ● ○ ○

Tennessee ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Utah ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Wyoming ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

8
Linked Data

• Linked with Protected Identification Key (PIK)

• Data restrictions (cases removed from analytic sample)

• No PIK available

• PIK and survey ID variables not uniquely identifying over time

• State mismatches

• SIPP records with imputed SNAP receipt

• SIPP records in states or years where AdRecs were unavailable

• SIPP records with less than 12 months of available data

9
Linked Data

• Analytic sample

54,500 person-years and 

654,000 person-months

• All analyses unweighted

• Each case has a “yes” or “no” 

value for SNAP receipt from both 

SIPP and administrative records

• Monthly

• Annual

10

ID Yr Mo

SNAP

SIPP 

(monthly)

SNAP 

SIPP 

(annual)

SNAP 

AdRec

(monthly)

SNAP 

AdRec

(annual)

1 2013 1 0 0 0 1

1 2013 2 0 0 1 1

1 2013 3 0 0 1 1

1 2013 4 0 0 1 1

1 2013 5 0 0 1 1

1 2013 6 0 0 1 1

1 2013 7 0 0 0 1

1 2013 8 0 0 0 1

1 2013 9 0 0 0 1

1 2013 10 0 0 0 1

1 2013 11 0 0 0 1

1 2013 12 0 0 0 1

ID Yr Mo

SNAP

SIPP 

(monthly)

SNAP 

SIPP 

(annual)

SNAP 

AdRec

(monthly)

SNAP 

AdRec

(annual)

1 2013 1 0 0 0 1

1 2013 2 0 0 1 1

1 2013 3 0 0 1 1

1 2013 4 0 0 1 1

1 2013 5 0 0 1 1

1 2013 6 0 0 1 1

1 2013 7 0 0 0 1

1 2013 8 0 0 0 1

1 2013 9 0 0 0 1

1 2013 10 0 0 0 1

1 2013 11 0 0 0 1

1 2013 12 0 0 0 1
Annual SNAP Receipt Rates in Linked Data

11

14.4%

18.6%

SIPP

AdRecs

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Survey Years 2014-2020, and 

state SNAP administrative records, 2013-2019. The linked SIPP and administrative records cover Connecticut, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah. 
Annual SNAP Receipt Rates in Linked Data

12

11.6%

10.5%

2.7%

5.4%

0.1%

2.6%

SIPP

AdRecs

Full-year

receipt

Partial-year, 

continuous

Partial-year, 

split

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Survey Years 2014-2020, and 

state SNAP administrative records, 2013-2019. The linked SIPP and administrative records cover Connecticut, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah. 
Reporting Accuracy

Survey Data

No SNAP Receipt 

in SIPP

SNAP Receipt 

Administrative Data in SIPP

No SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

True

Negative

False

Positive

SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

False

Negative

True

Positive

13
Reporting Accuracy

99%

75%

1%

26%

14

True negative

True positive

False positive

No SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Survey Years 2014-2020, and 

state SNAP administrative records, 2013-2019. The linked SIPP and administrative records cover Connecticut, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah. 

Annual

False negative

CPS ASEC ACS 2008 SIPP
Reporting Accuracy

98%

77%

2%

23%

15

True negative

True positive False negative

False positive

No SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

99%

75%

1%

26%

True negative

True positive False negative

False positive

No SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

SNAP Receipt

in AdRecs

Annual

Monthly

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Survey Years 2014-2020, and 

state SNAP administrative records, 2013-2019. The linked SIPP and administrative records cover Connecticut, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah. 
Total Months of Receipt, AdRecs vs. SIPP

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Months of Receipt in AdRecs

16

Overall

Months in SIPP 

Higher

Months in SIPP 

Match

Months in SIPP 

Lower

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Survey Years 2014-2020, and 

state SNAP administrative records, 2013-2019. The linked SIPP and administrative records cover Connecticut, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah. 
Summary

• SIPP accurately captures non-receipt (low false positives)

• Among those receiving SNAP, SIPP does a better job capturing receipt 

than some surveys, but still underestimates aggregate totals

• Cases where SNAP was received for only part of the year are still a 

challenge

17
Next Steps

• Benefit-unit analyses (unit composition, amounts)

• Leverage longitudinal nature of SIPP (up to 48 months of observations 

per person)

• Analysis of imputed SNAP receipt

• Examination of other social safety net programs (e.g., WIC and TANF)

18
Thank you

Katy Giefer

katherine.g.giefer@census.gov

Mike King

michael.king2@census.gov

Veronica Roth

veronica.l.roth@census.gov

19
Thank you

Katy Giefer

katherine.g.giefer@census.gov

Mike King

michael.king2@census.gov

Veronica Roth

veronica.l.roth@census.gov

20
Annual Receipt Demographics: 

False Negatives vs. True Positives

10%

32%

27%

25%

6%

9%

29%

19%

31%

13%

0-4

5-17

18-34

 35-64

65+

Age Distribution

21

23%

39%

20%

8%

9%

48%

35%

9%

4%

3%

0-99

100-199

200-299

300-399

400+

Poverty Status Distribution

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), Survey Years 2014-2020, and 

state SNAP administrative records, 2013-2019. The linked SIPP and administrative records cover Connecticut, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Utah.