Food stamps, temporary assistance for needy families and food hardships in three American cities

We examine how participation in the Food Stamp and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Programs is associated with self-reported household food hardships, using data from a longitudinal survey of low-income families living in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio. In addition to the measures of hardships and program participation, the survey includes measures of income, wealth, social resources, disability, physical health and family structure, measures that help us to account for selection between recipient and non-recipient households. For our multivariate analyses, we estimate multiple indicator multiple cause models that are modified to incorporate discrete outcome variables and to account for longitudinal data. Estimates from these models reveal that participation in the Food Stamp Program is associated with fewer food hardships, while participation in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program has no detectable association with hardships.