SNAP KEEPS PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY

SNAP kept 10.3 million people — including 4.9 million children — above the poverty line in 2012, using data that correct for underreporting.  This is twice as many people as in figures previously reported by the Census Bureau that do not make these corrections. SNAP also lifted 2.1 million children out of “deep poverty” (defined as incomes below half of the poverty line) in 2012, more than any other government assistance program.  SNAP keeps more households with children out of “extreme poverty”— defined as having income of less than $2 per person per day — than any other government program.  One reason SNAP is so effective in fighting extreme poverty is that it focuses on many of the poorest households.  Roughly 92% of monthly SNAP benefits go to households below the poverty line, and 57% go to households below half of the poverty line (that is, below $814 a month for a family of three in 2013).  One in five SNAP households lives on cash income of less than $2 per person a day.

Source: Center for Budget & Policy Priorities, 9/2/15, SNAP & the Safety Net