Changing SNAP-Participation Trends Among Farmworker Households in the U.S., 2003 –2012

AbstractWe investigated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among citizen, documented and undocumented immigrant hired crop farmworkers for ten recent years. We analyzed population representative data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey for 2003 –2012 (N = 18,243 households). Time-chart, simple mean differences, and logistic regressions described farmworker household participation in SNAP. The 2008 financial crisis almost doubled SNAP-participation by agriculture households (6.5% in 2003–2007 vs. 11.3% in 2008–2012). The increasin g SNAP-participation was found for citizen, documented and undocumented immigrant households. We found low participation among documented (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.56–0.8) and undocumented immigrants (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.54–0.74) compared to citizens. Low odds ratios (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.55–0.89) were fo und for Hispanic-citizens as compared with non-Hispanic white-citizens. Our results may help inform the debate surrounding the effects of the financial crisis on SNAP-participation and on differences in participation among citizens, immigrants, Hispanics and non-Hispanics, the latter suggesting ethn ic farmworker disparities in SNAP-participation.
Source: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research