Household history, SNAP participation, and food insecurity

•Food insecurity is an important policy issue.•Food insecurity is hypothesized to depend on recent household experience.•Analysis uses bivariate probit model of food insecurity and SNAP participation.•Recent household history includes both economic and non-economic variables.•Negative income shocks, moving and changes in household size are positively related to food insecurity.

Food security in an important public policy issue. In 2015, approximately 1 in 8 U.S. households experienced food insecurity at some point in the year. Low-income families are at higher risk for food insecurity than other families, and these families may also face higher levels of disruption (e.g., moves, loss of income, or individuals entering or leaving the household) than other families. I use data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation to explore the relationship between food insecurity, the household's history during the previous year, and SNAP participation. The results indicate that a number of aspects of the household's recent experience including negative income shocks, moves, and both increases and decreases in household size increase the probability of being food insecure while SNAP participation is estimated to reduce the probability of being food insecure.