Labor economics expert available to discuss how end of SNAP emergency allotments will affect families

LAWRENCE — The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps offset the costs for families who face food insecurity. It’s one of the most frequently accessed public programs, aiding more than 41 million people each month.

But the SNAP emergency allotments put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic will end this month. This will result in a benefit cut of about $95 per month for households in 35 states, including Kansas.

“These cuts come after a rapid increase in food prices in the past year and will likely result in increased food insecurity among low-income households,” said Donna Ginther, the Roy A. Roberts and Regents Distinguished Professor of Economics at the University of Kansas.

Her 2022 study titled “Association Between State Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Policies, Child Protective Services Involvement, and Foster Care in the US, 2004-2016” also found that states with more generous SNAP policies had fewer children involved in Child Protective Services (CPS) and sent to foster care.

“Having sufficient SNAP benefits are associated with improved student test scores and reductions in child abuse and neglect. Reductions in SNAP benefits may put more children at risk,” she said.

Now in her 21st year at KU, Ginther specializes in labor economics. She is also the director of the Institute for Policy & Social Research, an interdisciplinary campus center for faculty and students doing funded work in the social and behavioral sciences.

To interview Ginther, please contact Jon Niccum, KU News Service public affairs officer, at 785-864-7633 or jniccum@ku.edu.