Overall, health challenges are particularly prevalent among SNAP recipients in New York City. Given the intersection between health and nutrition, potential cuts to the SNAP program could worsen these conditions if they lead more New Yorkers to rely on less nutritious food or skip meals. The cuts to the SNAP program thus threaten not only the economic security of New Yorkers, but also their health. Added economic hardships faced by SNAP recipients Prior Poverty Tracker work has demonstrated that rising food costs and increases in the cost of living in recent years have left SNAP recipients especially vulnerable, with roughly half of SNAP recipients reporting needing more money to meet their food needs since the onset of the pandemic. 14 Here, we find that even with SNAP benefits, more than 3 in 5 (62%) families sometimes or often ran out of food, or worried that food would run out, before having enough money to buy more (Figure 7). The combination of low wages, poorer health, and work-limiting health conditions among SNAP recipients — as we have highlighted throughout this Spotlight — also leaves these families at high risk of experiencing other forms of material hardship. In recent years, more than 3 in 5 (70%) families receiving SNAP reported sometimes or often running out of money before the end of the month or between paychecks (Figure 7). Poverty Tracker data also shows that more than 1 in 3 (34%) families receiving SNAP reported falling behind on utility payments because they were unaffordable, nearly 1 in 3 (34%) fell behind on rent or mortgage payments, and roughly 1 in 5 (17%) could not afford to see a doctor. Roughly 80% of families receiving SNAP benefits report experiencing at least some form of material hardship in the year that they received benefits, and nearly half (46%) experienced severe material hardship. Overall, SNAP recipients face disproportionate health challenges and endure high rates of material hardship. While not fully remedying these challenges, SNAP provides a stable form of support. However, as we will discuss in the next section, cuts to the program resulting from recent federal actions are likely to exacerbate these challenges and hardships.
14 Vinh, et al., “Spotlight on: Food Budget Shortfalls in New York City.”
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SNAP RECIPIENTS IN NEW YORK CITY AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF FEDERAL CUTS TO SNAP
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