Trenkamp Brad, Wiseman Michael
Office of Disability and Income Assistance Policy, Office of Retirement and Disability Policy, Social Security Administration, USA.
Soc Secur Bull. 2007;67(4):71-87.
The Food Stamp Program (FSP) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are important parts of national public assistance policy, and there is considerable overlap in the populations that the programs serve. About half of all SSI recipients reside in FSP recipient households. This article uses Social Security administrative data and the Food Stamp Quality Control samples for federal fiscal years 2001-2006 to study the prevalence of food stamp receipt among households with SSI recipients, the contribution of FSP to household income, and the importance of various FSP features in contributing to the well-being of recipient households. The prevalence of FSP participation among households that include SSI recipients is estimated to have grown steadily over the entire 2001-2006 period, rising from 47.4 percent in 2001 to 55.6 percent in 2006. This growth has occurred across all age groups of SSI recipients. The FSP contribution to household income has grown as well. In 2001, FSP increased the income of the households of SSI/FSP recipients by 13 percent; by 2006 the increase was 16.8 percent. Almost 80 percent of the food stamp recipient households that include SSI recipients receive increased benefits because of excess housing costs. In 2006, 44 percent of SSI recipients lived in households that did not receive food stamps. Given available information, it is difficult to gauge the FSP eligibility of nonparticipating households and, therefore, to assess the potential benefit of outreach efforts. Currently available measures of FSP take-up probably overstate participation among eligible households that include SSI recipients, and there is some evidence that enhanced state promotion of the FSP raises participation among households with SSI recipients. We conclude with recommendation for review and renewal of collaboration between the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (the agency responsible for administering the FSP) and the Social Security Administration in ensuring that eligible SSI recipients utilize FSP benefits.
食品券计划（FSP）和补充保障收入（SSI）是国家公共援助政策的重要组成部分，并且这两个计划所服务的人群有相当大的重叠。所有SSI领取者中约有一半居住在FSP领取者家庭。本文使用2001 - 2006财年的社会保障行政数据和食品券质量控制样本，来研究有SSI领取者的家庭中领取食品券的比例、FSP对家庭收入的贡献，以及FSP的各种特征对领取者家庭福祉的重要性。据估计，在2001 - 2006年整个期间，有SSI领取者的家庭中FSP参与率稳步上升，从2001年的47.4%升至2006年的55.6%。这种增长在SSI领取者的所有年龄组中都有出现。FSP对家庭收入的贡献也有所增加。2001年，FSP使SSI/FSP领取者家庭的收入增加了13%；到2006年，这一增幅为16.8%。几乎80%有SSI领取者的食品券领取者家庭因住房成本过高而获得了增加的福利。2006年，44%的SSI领取者生活在未领取食品券的家庭中。鉴于现有信息，很难衡量未参与家庭的FSP资格，因此也难以评估推广工作的潜在益处。目前可用的FSP参与率衡量方法可能高估了有SSI领取者的合格家庭中的参与情况，并且有一些证据表明，州政府加强对FSP的推广提高了有SSI领取者家庭的参与率。我们最后建议美国农业部食品和营养服务局（负责管理FSP的机构）与社会保障管理局重新审视并更新合作，以确保符合条件的SSI领取者能够利用FSP福利。
