Food Stamp Leavers Research StudyStudy of ABAWDs Leaving the Food Stamp Program in South Carolina: Final Report
By Phillip Richardson, Gregg Scoenfeld, Susan LaFever, Frances Jackson, and Mark Tecco. ERS project representative: Elizabeth Dagata
E-FAN No. (03-002) 152 pp,
March 2003
This report presents the findings of a study of able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) in South Carolina who left the Food Stamp Program (FSP) between October 1998 and March 2000. Under 1996 welfare reform legislation, ABAWDs are limited to 3 months of food stamp benefits in a 36-month period unless they work or participate in an approved work or training program. Survey data collected 12 months after they left the FSP showed that about 72 percent of ABAWD leavers were either working or living with an employed adult. Of those who were unemployed at the time of the survey, about half had worked in the past year. About half were below the poverty line, and two-thirds appeared, based on income, to still be eligible for food stamps. Forty percent were food insecure and 23 percent food insecure with hunger evident. Outcomes for ABAWDs who left the FSP in counties exempted from the ABAWD work requirements and time limits were similar to outcomes of ABAWDS leaving the program in nonexempt counties.
More findings from the South Carolina study are available online in Food Stamp Leavers Research StudyStudy of Nonwelfare Families Leaving the Food Stamp Program in South Carolina: Final Report.
Keywords: food stamps, hunger, anti-poverty programs, welfare reform, poverty, food assistance programs, nutrition, temporary assistance to needy families, operations, caseloads, food security
In this report ... Chapters are
in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
- Abstract, Acknowledgments, Contents, Executive Summary, 219 kb
- Chapter I: Introduction and Methodology, 45 kb
- Chapter 2: Designation of Exempt and Non-Exempt Counties in South Carolina, 82 kb
- Chapter 3: Profile of the ABAWD Leavers, 52 kb
- Chapter 4: Employment, Household Income, and Poverty Status, 147 kb
- Chapter 5: Hardship, Food Security, and Well-Being Among Respondents Still Off Food Stamps, 116 kb
- Chapter 6: Public Assistance, Child Care, and Transportation Among Persons Still Off Food Stamps, 50 kb
- Chapter 7: Food Stamp Recidivism, 41 kb
- Chapter 8: Administrative Data on the Survey Samples, 64 kb
- Entire Document, 656 kb
Updated date: March 1, 2003
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