In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Trump declared that “poverty is plummeting” and that over the past three years this has resulted in “7 million Americans” coming off of food stamps.

A particular decrease in food stamp enrollment might mean that poverty is going down, but it could also mean that fewer Americans are able to access and maintain their benefits. Putting the number in context is crucial in getting a better sense of how and why food stamp enrollment numbers are changing.

Some Context

The nation’s food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), provides support for more than 36 million people living at risk of hunger. Over the past several months, the administration has proposed new rules to the food stamp program that will lead to millions losing their access to SNAP benefits. Among other things, the new rules would change work requirements and allowances for certain expenditures such as heating bills. Recent reporting suggests that these cuts may have been instituted without appropriate review of their impact on recipients, with Politico noting that “many of USDA’s recent actions have been marred by missing pieces of critical data.”

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