Marianne Bitler, University of California Davis, Professor and Department Chair, Economics
Title: Cash, Food, and Well-Being: Evidence from the Introduction of SSI
Abstract: This presentation examines how changes in cash and in-kind benefits affected low-income adults with disabilities during the War on Poverty era. We study the introduction of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) in 1974, which increased cash benefits in many states, and its interaction with the Food Stamp Program, which at the time required recipients to use cash to purchase food stamp benefits. In states where SSI significantly increased cash assistance, recipients experienced a 16.3 percentage point increase in cash benefits, alongside reduced food stamp bonus amounts and higher purchase requirements. Despite no net change in food resources, recipients increased food spending and were less likely to report financial hardship. We also examine "cashout" states, where food stamps were replaced with additional cash benefits. These recipients gained greater flexibility in spending their benefits but showed a modest decline in usual food spending. Together, the findings provide rare causal evidence on how the form of assistance, cash versus in-kind benefits, influences spending and well-being.
This is joint work with Rebecca Brough, Molly Hawkins, and Lucie Schmidt.
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