Issues

A comparison of the characteristics and spending patterns of Food Stamp

recipients and nonrecipients

U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Summary 00–14 August 2000

in Labor Statistics

The Food Stamp Program is intended to assist

eligible low income households to purchase

food so that they can maintain a nutritious diet.

Food Stamp benefits are distributed in the form

of paper coupons or Electronic Benefit Cards.

Food Stamp benefits can be used only to buy

authorized food items at stores designated by

the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This report summarizes the characteristics and expenditures of consumer units1 (CUs) classified

according to whether Food Stamps are received, and whether the CU includes minors

(members under 18 years of age).

In 1998, CUs receiving Food Stamps made

up 5 percent of all consumer units, and 67 percent of those included minors.2 In contrast,

34 percent of CUs that did not receive Food

Stamps included minors. The average value of

Food Stamps received by CUs with minors,

$2,255, is 15 percent of their income before

taxes, 13 percent of average total expenditures,

and 55 percent of food expenditures. (See table

on reverse side.) In comparison, the average

value of Food Stamps received by CUs without minors, $639, is 7 percent of their income

before taxes, 6 percent of average total expenditures, and 30 percent of food expenditure.

Food Stamp CUs with minors received an average of $4,806 in public assistance and

Supplemental Security Income, with the value

of Food Stamps comprising 47 percent of that

amount. Food Stamp CUs without minors received an average of $2,290 in public assistance and Supplemental Security Income, with

the value of Food Stamps comprising 28 percent. Non-Food Stamp CUs received an average of $137 in public assistance and Supplemental Security Income.

Characteristics

Demographics. Food Stamp CUs with minors

averaged 4.1 persons in the household, with

2.4 persons under age 18. Non-Food Stamp

CUs with minors averaged 4.0 persons in the

household, with 1.8 persons under age 18.

Among CUs with minors, 82 percent of Food

Stamp CUs have a female reference person,

compared with 38 percent for non-Food Stamp

CUs. About 41 percent of the reference persons of Food Stamp CUs are black and about

19 percent are Hispanic; for non-Food Stamp

CUs, 14 percent are black and 12 percent are

Hispanic. Among the four groups, non-Food

Stamp CUs with minors have the highest average number of earners per household (two persons), twice the number of earners as in Food

Stamp CUs with minors.

Composition. The relationships between the

reference person and other members of a CU

differ depending on whether minors are present

in the CU, or if the CU receives Food Stamps.

“Husband and wife with own or adopted children” households comprise 23 percent of Food

Stamp CUs with minors, compared with 68 percent of non-Food Stamp CUs with minors.

Single-parent households constitute about 45

percent of Food Stamp CUs with minors, compared with 14 percent of non-Food Stamp CUs

with minors. Of CUs in which minors are

present, 15 percent of those receiving Food

Stamps have a grandparent, sibling, or other

relative as the reference person, compared with

5 percent for non-Food Stamps CUs. Food

Stamp CUs have a higher proportion of singles,

74 percent, than do non-Food Stamp CUs, 44

percent.

Participation in free food programs. The Consumer Expenditure Survey also asks respondents if they receive free food from private and

public welfare agencies. Participation rates in

such programs are as follows: 14 percent of 1

 A consumer unit includes (1) members of a

household related by blood, marriage, adoption or

other legal arrangement; (2) a person living alone or

sharing a household with others but who is responsible for at least two of the following three major

types of expenses—food, housing, and other expenses; or (3) two or more persons living together

who pool their income to make joint expenditure

decisions. In this report, the terms CU and household are used interchangeably. A reference person

is the first member mentioned by the respondent

when asked “to start with the name of the person or

one of the persons who owns or rents the home.” It

is with respect to this person that the relationship of

the other CU members is determined. 2

 Due to the 3-month reference period of the

quarterly Interview component of the Consumer Expenditure Survey, the data for this report include data

for October 1997 through November 1998; this effectively constitutes 12 months of data due to the

rotating sample design of the survey.

Food Housing Apparel and Transpor- Health care Personal Other 0

10

20

30

40

50

Food Stamp CUs with members under 18

Food Stamp CUs without members under 18 

Non-Food Stamp CUs with members under 18

Non-Food Stamp CUs without members under 18

Expenditure allocation of consumer units by Food Stamp receipt, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 

1998

Percentage of average

total expenditures

services tation insurance and 

pensions

expenditures
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food stamp CUs without minors, 10 percent

of Food Stamp CUs with minors, and about 1

percent of non-Food Stamp CUs.

Expenditures

Average total expenditures of $42,617 by nonFood Stamp CUs with minors are about 2.5

times greater than those of Food Stamp CUs

with minors; average total expenditures of

$30,953 by non-Food Stamp CUs without minors are about 2.9 times greater than those of

Food Stamp CUs without minors. Housing,

food, and transportation comprised 79 percent

of average total expenditures for Food Stamp

CUs with minors, 67 percent for non-Food

Stamp CUs with minors, 77 percent for Food

Stamp CUs without minors, and 64 percent

for non-Food Stamp CUs without minors.

(See chart on reverse side.) Both Food Stamp

CUs and non-Food Stamp CUs allocated the

largest share of total expenditures to housing—an average of 36 percent for Food Stamp

CUs. The second largest expenditure category

for Food Stamp CUs is food—an average of

20 percent. The second largest expenditure category for non-Food Stamp CUs is transportation — an average of 17 percent, about the

same as for Food Stamp CUs.

For further information on the data presented here, contact Lucilla Tan at (202)691-

6900. For general information about the data

source, the Consumer Expenditure Survey,

send email to cexinfo@bls.gov. To find Consumer Expenditure Survey data on the Internet,

access http://stats.bls.gov/csxhome.htm, the

BLS homepage. Material in this publication

is in the public domain, and with appropriate

credit, may be reproduced without permission.

This information is available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:

(202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: 1-800-

877-8339.

Number of consumer units (in 000s) .... 106,959 3,861 1,946 34,679 66,473

Income before taxes ............................ $41,244 $15,172 $9,177 $52,767 $37,731

 Public assistance, Supplemental

 Security Income ............................... $332 $4,807 $2,290 $150 $123

 Food Stamps ................................. $89 $2,255 $639 $0 $0

Income after taxes ............................... $37,970 $15,135 $9,100 $48,860 $34,507

Average total expenditures .................. $33,856 $16,910 $10,552 $42,617 $30,953

Percent distribution:

 Food .................................................. 14.5 24.5 14.9 20.5 13.9

 Housing ............................................. 31.8 39.0 32.1 41.8 31.3

 Transportation .................................... 19.3 15.2 19.7 14.8 19.1

 Other expenditures ............................ 34.4 21.3 33.3 23.0 35.7

All CUs

Food Stamp

CUs

Non-Food Stamp

CUs

Without

members

under

18

With

members

under

18

Item

With

members

under

18

Expenditures and characteristics of consumer units (CUs), by Food Stamp status and by presence of members under age 18,

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998

Without

members

under

18

Non-Food Stamp

CUs

Food Stamp

CUs

Without

members

under

18

Without

members

under

18

With

members

under

18

With

members

under

18

Item All CUs

 Consumer unit characteristics

Average number in consumer unit:

 Persons ............................................ 2.5 4.1 1.3 4.0 1.7

 Children under 18 ............................. .7 2.4 .0 1.8 .0

Percent distribution:

 Husband and wife with own/adopted

 children .......................................... 27.3 23.1 1.4 67.9 7.1

 Husband and wife with sibling,

 grandchildren .................................. 3.8 5.8 .6 8.0 1.6

 Husband and wife only ..................... 21.6 .0 9.9 .0 34.4

 Single parent .................................... 6.1 45.1 .0 13.8 .0

 Single ............................................... 28.6 .0 74.3 .0 43.9

 Reference person is a relative .......... 3.5 14.9 2.6 4.8 2.2

 Other ................................................ 9.1 11.1 11.2 5.6 10.7