Long-Term Benefits of SNAP

While SNAP benefits average just $1.35 per person per meal for households with children, they have surprisingly important effects on children’s health, education, and long-term outcomes. SNAP enables families to spend more on food and frees up resources they can use to meet their health and other needs. Studies show that children receiving SNAP are less likely than other low-income children not receiving SNAP to be in fair or poor health or underweight, and their families are less likely to make tradeoffs between paying for health care and paying for other basic needs, like food and housing.