Hungry for Success? SNAP Timing, High-Stakes Exam Performance, and College Attendance

Timothy Bond, Jillian Carr, Analisa Packham and Jonathan Smith

No 28386, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Monthly government transfer programs create cycles of consumption that track the timing of benefit receipt. In this paper, we exploit state-level variation in the staggered timing of nutritional assistance benefit issuance across households to analyze how this monthly cyclicality in food availability affects academic achievement. Using individual-level score data from a large national college admissions exam in the United States linked to national college enrollment data, we find that taking this high-stakes exam in the last two weeks of the SNAP benefit cycle reduces test scores and lowers the probability of attending a 4-year college for low-income high school students.

JEL-codes: I18 I2 I38 J18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-01
Note: CH EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Timothy N. Bond & Jillian B. Carr & Analisa Packham & Jonathan Smith, 2022. "Hungry for Success? SNAP Timing, High-Stakes Exam Performance, and College Attendance," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, vol 14(4), pages 51-79.

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