Publication
Apr 8, 2019

In 2015, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) prevented 8.4 million people from living in poverty. This essential and effective safety net program helps people with low incomes purchase food for themselves and their families—an estimated 40.8 million Americans were living in poverty in 2015; absent SNAP benefits, that number would have been 49.1 million. Despite its success, SNAP is facing rule changes that would cause people to lose benefits—harming those who need it most and weakening the poverty-fighting power of the program.