December 2017
Spotlight on: SNAP
Which New Yorkers are leaving food on the table?
Contributors: Columbia Poverty Tracker Research Group
Issues Areas: Food Hardship
Poverty Tracker data finds that SNAP ( the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) serves many New Yorkers in need and is working to help buffer those who face financial shocks. But it also reveals that many needy New Yorkers — over 700,000 — are missing out on SNAP, perhaps because of lack of knowledge or worry that it is a program just meant for the poor. Closing the participation gap in SNAP could help put more food on New Yorkers’ tables, relieving one source of hardship in New York City.