The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program Benefit Cycle and Mental Health

Abstract

An average of about 22.2 million households in the United States receive monthly food benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Benefits are distributed once per month, with distribution dates varying across households within the month. Some households exhaust their benefits before the end of the benefit cycle, which can lead to food insecurity and poorer mental health later in the month. This study investigates the relationship between the SNAP benefit cycle and SNAP recipients’ mental health. We leverage an online survey of SNAP participants in Alabama that captures both the number of days since a participant’s household received SNAP benefits and their self-reported mental stress over the past week. Mental stress is measured using the 10-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-10). Regression analyses are performed to examine the pattern of distress across the benefit cycle. The results show that overall distress increases significantly after day 21 of the benefit cycle. Additionally, anxiety-stress and depression scores increase significantly in the later part of the cycle, paralleling the overall distress result. These findings highlight the psychological strain associated with benefit depletion and underscore the need for policy interventions to mitigate the end-of-cycle hardship.