Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility Policy and SNAP Participation

Abstract

The broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) policy allows states to bypass federal gross income and asset tests for supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) eligibility. Policymakers often propose limiting BBCE's scope or eliminating it altogether. Yet, our understanding of BBCE's impact on SNAP participation has relied solely on static two-way fixed effects (TWFE) estimators, which have been criticized for assuming no treatment effect heterogeneity across states and over time. In this study, using a heterogeneity-robust difference-in-differences estimator, we provide new estimates of BBCE's impact that are more than twice as large as those derived from the static TWFE models. Importantly, our event-study analysis shows that BBCE's effect has increased uniformly over time across state groups defined by their adoption timing, explaining the smaller effects estimated by the static TWFE model. In addition, we find that although BBCE extended eligibility to higher-income households, most of its impact on participation occurred among households already eligible under federal gross income limits. Our counterfactual simulations further show that between 2000 and 2016, extending eligibility to higher-income households accounted for approximately 11.5% of the increase in participation and 3.8% of the rise in program spending resulting from BBCE, with the remainder driven by already income-eligible households.