FALLING OFF THE SNAP CLIFF

When families participating in SNAP receive even modest increases in earnings, their benefits get reduced disproportionately. When benefits are reduced too quickly, the resulting net loss in the family’s budget is like falling off a cliff. And, like falling off a real cliff, it hurts. In a recent report on Philadelphia families receiving SNAP, Children’s Health Watch found that compared to families with young children that consistently received SNAP:

·    Families with young children whose SNAP benefit had been reduced were 34% more likely to be food insecure; 32% more likely to be marginally food secure; and 56% more likely to forgo seeking medical care, prescriptions, or oral health care because of an inability to afford care for a family member

·    Young children in families that lost SNAP benefits were 186% more likely to have fair or poor oral health and their families were 101% more likely to forgo seeking medical care, prescriptions, or oral health care for their young child because of inability to pay and 61% more likely to forgo medical care, prescriptions, or oral health care for household members other than the young child because of inability to pay.

Source: Children’s Health Watch, 12/12/14, SNAP Cliff