Empirical Bayes Shrinkage Estimates of State Food Stamp Participation Rates in 2002-2004 for All Eligible People and the Working Poor.

The Food Stamp program is a central component of American policy to alleviate hunger and poverty. This report presents estimates for each state that measure the need for the Food Stamp program and the program’s effectiveness from 2002 through 2004. The estimates for all eligible people and for the working poor were derived jointly using empirical Bayes shrinkage estimation methods and data from the Current Population Survey, the decennial census, and administrative records.