Empirical Bayes Shrinkage Estimates of State Food Stamp Program Participation Rates in 2004-2006 for All Eligible People and the Working Poor.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—formerly the Food Stamp Program (FSP)—is a central component of American policy to alleviate hunger and poverty. This report presents estimates that, for each state, measure the need for the FSP and its effectiveness in each of the three years from 2004 to 2006. The estimated numbers of people eligible for the FSP measure the need for the program. The estimated participation rates measure, state by state, the program’s performance in reaching its target population. In addition to the participation rates that pertain to all eligible people, researchers derived estimates of participation rates for the “working poor,†that is, people who were eligible for the FSP and lived in households in which someone earned income from a job. The estimates were derived jointly using empirical Bayes shrinkage estimation methods and data from the Current Population Survey, the decennial census, and administrative records. The report also describes the shrinkage estimator in detail.