Additional Food Stamp Investment Could Increase Nation’s GDP

WASHINGTON, DC – As participants in USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spend their benefits, income is generated for those involved in producing, transporting, and marketing the food and other goods purchased by SNAP recipients. Researchers with the Economic Research Service (ERS) recently compiled a new social accounting matrix to quantify the effect of additional SNAP benefits on employment and gross domestic income (GDI) for various sectors of the U.S. economy. They found that a hypothetical new $1 billion in SNAP benefits would have a relatively large effect on manufacturing industries and the trade and transportation industries. The new SNAP benefits would generate $218 million in GDI and 1,540 full-time equivalent jobs for manufacturing industries, including food and beverage processors. For the trade and transportation industries, new income totaling $406 million and 4,450 jobs would be generated. These industries include grocery stores, food, and other wholesalers, plus the trucking and rail freight industries, among others. The hypothetical new $1 billion in SNAP benefits would generate an additional $32 million in GDI going to agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting and 480 jobs in these industries.