To What Degree Does Food Assistance Help Poor Households Acquire Enough Food?

Beth O. Daponte, Carnegie Mellon University
Amelia Haviland, Carnegie Mellon University
Joseph Kadane, Carnegie Mellon University

The research examines the efficacy of public versus private food assistance in alleviating poor households' food shortages by considering the effects of all major forms of food assistance– Food Stamps, WIC, and food pantries. The analyses use 1993 data from 398 low-income households in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The paper makes three contributions to current food assistance literature. First, the authors recommend a refinement of the standard food consumption model to address biased estimation procedures. Second, the authors extend the standard food consumption model to include both public and private food assistance. Finally, the research examines the separate effect of widely available forms of food assistance, helping poor households acquire enough resources to potentially meet basic nutritional requirements. Findings suggest that receiving a significant amount in Food Stamps impacts whether a household attains at least the Thrifty Food Plan more so than receiving food from a food pantry or through WIC.