Iowa food stamp use continues to decline

CEDAR RAPIDS — Food stamp use in Iowa jumped in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, but then continued a seven-year decline other than a slight bump following the August 2020 derecho.

State officials characterize it as a “gradual, but steady decline” that may reflect Iowa’s strong economy and tight labor market.

From June 2020 to June 2021, statewide enrollment in SNAP — Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps — fell by 23,437 people, or nearly 7.6 percent, from 308,277 recipients to 284,790. The number of households receiving food stamps dropped by 14,948 to 139,285 — a 9.6 percent decline — according to data from the Iowa Department of Human Services.

Unemployment in Iowa ticked up from 3.9 percent in May to 4 percent in June, Iowa Workforce Development reported last month. It was 7.1 percent a year ago. The agency reported more than 70,000 job openings across the state.

As the economy shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19 and Iowans were thrown out of work, Human Services saw a sharp increase in food stamp use related to the pandemic. From March 2020 to May 2020, the number of SNAP recipients jumped by about 40,000 Iowans to 338,192. It dropped 20,000 in June, but rose again in August and reached 318,993 in September following the derecho.

From September to June 2021, the DHS reported a decrease in recipients of 34,203, continuing the decline in recipients and benefits since 2014.

SNAP is a federally funded program that provides benefits to low-income Iowans to purchase food. To be eligible, a family’s annual household income cannot exceed 160 percent of the federal poverty level. According to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the federal poverty level is $12,880 for individuals, $17,420 for a two-person household, $21,960 for three people and $26,500 for a family of four.

Iowa DHS numbers show that the average SNAP recipient is a 28-year-old white woman, with 54 percent of recipients younger than 18 or older than 59.

Food assistance recipients are offered a voluntary job training program at no cost through partnerships with nine community colleges.

SNAP and Iowa’s Emergency Food Assistance Program, which provides commodity foods through food pantries and meal sites statewide to residents whose income does not exceed 185 percent of the poverty level, are funded entirely by federal dollars. Administrative costs are shared equally by the state and federal governments.

The fiscal 2021 projected budget for Iowa is $485.8 million, including $24.2 million from the state general fund.

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