Food and Nutrition Programs

The nutrition programs of the federal government include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called the Food Stamp program) and various child nutrition programs (including the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC). CBO projects spending for those programs under current law, estimates the budgetary cost of legislative proposals, and analyzes policy options and issues related to the programs.

Report
A Review of CBO’s Estimate of the Effects of the Recovery Act on SNAP
December 20, 2018
In 2009, the Recovery Act boosted monthly benefits for SNAP. The resulting increase in spending on SNAP benefits from 2009 to 2013 was greater than CBO had estimated. This report discusses that underestimate and the reasons for it.
Report
Child Nutrition Programs: Spending and Policy Options
September 25, 2015
Since 1990, real spending for child nutrition programs more than doubled—to $20 billion in 2014. CBO expects that increases in food prices and demographic changes will cause spending to rise further in the future.
Report
The Effects of Potential Cuts in SNAP Spending on Households With Different Amounts of Income
March 16, 2015
CBO examines several options that would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the effects they would have on households with different amounts of income.
Report
Growth in Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits for Low-Income Households
February 11, 2013
During the past 40 years, federal spending for major means-tested programs and tax credits for low-income households more than tripled as a share of gross domestic product. In 2012, such spending totaled $588 billion.
Report
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
April 19, 2012
One in seven U.S. residents received benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2011, at a total cost of $78 billion. Spending on SNAP benefits more than doubled between 2007 and 2011.