Food stamp participation by eligible older Americans remains low

Food Review, Summer-Fall, 2002 by Parke Wilde, Elizabeth Dagata

For more than 15 years, the Nation's largest food assistance program has confronted a mystery. Although USDA's Food Stamp Program has special provisions to facilitate participation by low-income Americans age 60 and older, only about a third of those eligible in this age group join the program. No other demographic group participates at such a low rate.

The food stamp participation rate--the number of participants as a proportion of the number of eligible people--dropped slightly for older Americans from 1994 to 2000, while the participation rate fell sharply for other age groups (table 1). For people age 60 and older, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) estimates that the participation rate was 36 percent in 1994 and 30 percent in 2000. By contrast, the participation rate fell from 74 to 60 percent for nonelderly adults in the same period. For children under age 18, the participation rate also fell, from 90 percent in 1994 to 72 percent in 2000.

An average of 1.7 million Americans age 60 and older received food stamps each month in 1999 and 2000. For households that included participants age 60 and older in 2000, average monthly benefits were $59, compared with average benefits of $158 for all food stamp households. The average benefit is lower for households with older Americans partly because of their smaller family sizes and partly because of their higher per capita income.

Special Provisions for Older Americans

Following rules established by Congress, the Food Stamp Program extends a special invitation to older Americans. Individuals age 60 and older, or families that include a person this age, face somewhat relaxed income and asset limits for eligibility in the program. For example, to be eligible for food stamp benefits, families without an elderly or disabled member must have monthly cash income no higher than 130 percent of the Federal poverty guideline (the guideline is $1,467 per month for a family of four in 2002). This limit, known as the "gross income test," is waived for families with an elderly or disabled person. The only income limit families with an elderly or disabled person must meet is known as the "net income test," which requires that monthly cash income after certain deductions be no higher than 100 percent of the Federal poverty guideline. The most important deductions are a standard deduction and a shelter deduction for certain housing and utility expenses. Older or disabled participants are al so permitted a deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses above $35, which is not available to other participants.

To be eligible for food stamps, families with a member age 60 and older face a more lenient limit on the assets they may own ($3,000) than other families ($2,000). As of October 2002, families with a disabled member will also face the more lenient $3,000 asset limit. For all families, these asset limits do not include a family's own home. Households in which all members receive benefits from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a Federal cash assistance program for the low-income elderly and disabled, are automatically eligible for the Food Stamp Program, without being subject to asset limits at all. These food stamp eligibility requirements seek to provide for the special circumstances of older Americans, such as higher medical costs or assets that are essential savings for old age.

Exploring the Mystery of the Missing Elderly

To gain insight into what is keeping older Americans away from the Food Stamp Program, USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) compared relevant demographic characteristics and income levels of food stamp participants age 60 and older and low-income nonparticipants age 60 and older. ERS used data from the Census Bureau's March 2001 Current Population Survey (CPS) to make the comparison. Both the food stamp participants and the nonparticipants had annual household incomes below 130 percent of the Federal poverty guideline. In 2000, the Federal poverty level was $922 per month for a two-person household. Income includes all sources of cash income, such as earnings, social security, welfare benefits, and interest income, but not in-kind benefits, such as food stamps or most medical program benefits. (The 130-percent criterion does not by itself establish eligibility because some elderly people with incomes lower than 130 percent of poverty may be ineligible due to asset limits and other rules, while others with h igher incomes may in fact be eligible if they have substantial deductions.)

The elderly participants and low-income nonparticipants were similar in some respects. About two-thirds of both groups were women (table 2). A slightly higher proportion of the participant group lived in rural areas. The nonparticipating elderly were slightly older than the participating elderly. Median age for nonparticipants was 73, versus 70 for participants.

Elderly Food Stamp Program participants and low-income nonparticipants differed in race, ethnicity, and region of residence. Participants were more likely than nonparticipants to be Black or Hispanic. Almost three quarters (71 percent) of nonparticipants were non-Hispanic Whites, compared with just over half (55 percent) of participants. Nonparticipants were more likely than participants to live in the Midwest and West and less likely to live in the South and Northeast.