Food Purchasing Responses to an Unexpected Food Stamp Program (SNAP) Benefit Disbursement

Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr. is Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University and served as Department Head from 2021–2025. His research focuses on the economics of food valuation, consumption, policy, and health.

Previously, he held the Tyson Endowed Chair in Food Policy Economics at the University of Arkansas and has held faculty positions at Rutgers University and Massey University, New Zealand. Prof. Nayga is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA), and served as Editor of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics (AJAE) and AAEA’s President.

Title of the seminar: Food Purchasing Responses to an Unexpected Food Stamp Program (SNAP) Benefit Disbursement: Evidence from the 2018-2019 US Government Shutdown.

Abstract:

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is central to the U.S. safety net, yet little is known about how participants respond to unexpected benefit-timing shocks.

We exploit the 2018–2019 government shutdown, which shifted February 2019 benefits into January, and subsequent state-level schedule adjustments to examine how early disbursements affect food purchasing behavior. Using NielsenIQ consumer panel data and a difference-in-differences design, we find that SNAP-eligible households reduced February food spending by 7%, with disproportionately large cuts to healthier items such as fruits and vegetables, lowering the nutritional quality of their baskets despite later declines in unit prices.

These patterns contradict consumption-smoothing predicted by the permanent income hypothesis. Effects are largest in states that usually issue benefits in the first week of the month and those with higher SNAP participation rates. We further show that shorter gaps between payments temporarily smooth within-month spending and flatten the SNAP benefit cycle, while state schedule adjustments in March and April prevent deeper spending shortfalls.

Overall, our findings underscore the importance of benefit timing and adequacy in safeguarding household food well-being during policy disruptions.

How to participate

The seminar is open to all

Time: 19 March 2026, 10:30-12:00
Place: Meeting room Von Langen, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg