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Social Programs

Food Stamp Spending is Skyrocketing

Taxpayer costs for Food Stamps skyrocketed from $31 billion (in inflation-adjusted terms) to $135 billion between 2001 and 2023.

Social Programs Policy Rapid Response BlogMay 17, 2024 By Matthew Dickerson

Food stamp spending has grown significantly.

Outlays for food stamps totaled $134.6 billion in FY 2023.

In FY 2001, inflation-adjusted outlays for the program were $31 billion (19.1 billion in nominal terms). That means in constant 2023 dollars, annual spending on food stamps has increased by more than $100 billion over the last 23 years.

Growing Food Stamp Spending

The trend in food stamp outlays shows significant spikes in 2009 and 2020.

This is due to two related factors: 1) increased enrollment in the wake of the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic and government shutdowns of the economy; and more significantly, 2) major increases in benefit payments and eligibility enacted by Congress and the USDA.

The food stamp program is the largest non-healthcare welfare program by total spending. It is one of the largest programs in the federal budget, exceeding the combined costs of the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Energy, Interior, Justice, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Unlike some other welfare programs, food stamps are funded by the federal government without a state matching requirement for benefit payments. The federal government also reimburses 50 percent of state administrative expenses.

Read the EPIC Report: Food Stamps: A Culture of Dependency.

Author

Matthew D. Dickerson

Matthew D. Dickerson

Director of Budget Policy

Matthew D. Dickerson is Director of Budget Policy at the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). Dickerson is recognized as an expert on fiscal policy issues, including the budget, appropriations, and entitlement reform. His articles have been featured in the Wall Street Journal , the Miami Herald , National Review , the Sacramento Bee , the Washington Times , the Baltimore Sun , The Hill , the Washington Examiner , and other outlets. Prior to joining EPIC, Dickerson served as Senior Policy Advisor on the staff of the House Budget Committee, where he helped lead development of the fiscal year 2024 budget resolution. He has a dozen years of experience on Capitol Hill, including as a senior staffer with the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the caucus of conservatives in the House of Representatives. Under four different RSC chairmen, Dickerson held senior level roles including Policy Director and Senior Policy Staff. Additionally, he served as Legislative Director and other policy positions for the late Congressman C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), a former Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. During his tenure at The Heritage Foundation, Dickerson was Director of the Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget. In this capacity, he oversaw a team of budget analysts and economists researching diverse subjects including spending, entitlements, budget process, tax, labor, pensions, and infrastructure issues. He has also been a Policy Manager at Americans for Prosperity, where he supervised a team of fellows and analysts covering a variety of federal and state policy issues. Dickerson is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Virginia and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and History.

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