The New Safety Net: Why SNAP Matters

OBJECTIVE: Since its inception 50 years ago, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has become a central component of the social safety net in the United States. From its emergence as a county-based system serving relatively few people, it has evolved and grown into one of the largest programs in the safety net that served over 46 million Americans at a cost of over $80 billion in 2012. Despite the program size, there is a lacuna of social science research on SNAP compared to many other programs in the safety net. This project aims to fill this void with the production of an edited volume entitled The New Safety Net: Why SNAP Matters.