FRAC SPECIAL ANALYSIS

FACT SHEET: FOOD STAMPS AND THE ELDERLY

PARTICIPATION: Elderly people rely on food stamps, but they represent only a small proportion of food stamp households. In FY 2000, households containing elderly persons represented 21.0 percent of all food stamp households and 10 percent of all food stamp participants were elderly. Further, only a small proportion of low-income elderly people participate in the Food Stamp Program. In FY 1998, 30.4 percent of eligible elderly people participated in the Food Stamp Program. The reasons for nonparticipation include: a lack of information, a perceived lack of need, low expected benefits, the time and hassle involved in applying, and the stigma of receiving public benefits.

BENEFIT LEVELS: In FY 2000, 79.5 percent of all food stamp households with elderly members were single-person households. The average benefit for households containing elderly and other members was $116 a month. Elderly people who lived alone received an average benefit of $44 a month.

IMMIGRATION STATUS: Most elderly food stamp recipients are U.S. citizens. In FY 1999, 90.1 percent were citizens, 8.8 percent were non-citizens, with the remainder being either refugees or with unknown citizenship status.

INCOME: Food stamp households that contain elderly people tend to receive SSI or Social Security. In FY 1999, 59 percent of all food stamp households with elderly members received SSI, 70 percent received Social Security, and 35 percent received SSI as well as Social Security. The average gross income of households with elderly people in the Food Stamp Program was $605 month, as compared to $603 for households without elderly people.

FOOD INSECURITY: Many elderly people are food insecure and in need of nutrition-related assistance. In 1999, 1,439,000 households with elderly people reported that they did not have enough of the right types of food needed to maintain their health or simply did not have enough to eat.

Sources: USDA, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households: Fiscal Year 2000 (Advance Report, July 2001); USDA, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households Fiscal Year 1999 (December 2000); USDA, Trends in FSP Participation Rates: Focus on 1994 to 1998 (November 2000); USDA, Household Food Security 1999; Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Reaching the Working Poor and Poor Elderly Study (December 1999).

Prepared by FRAC 9/14/01.