Economic Research on the Joint Contributions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Unemployment Insurance to the Nation’s Safety Net

A national project led by the Jacob France Institute (JFI), conducted by teams of social scientists at public universities and non-profit research organizations from six states, supported by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has just had its final project report published into a book by the prestigious Upjohn Institute in the labor economics field.

This is the first study in America to use administrative microdata from both Unemployment Insurance (UI) and the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) programs in several states to look at how these two programs worked together during a period of severe economic and labor market crisis.

Dr. David Stevens, the former executive director of the JFI, is one the book editors.  Dr. Ting Zhang, Associate Professor of Economics and Associate Director of the JFI, Susan Christiansen, Research Economist, and Jing Li, a former Research Analyst of the JFI wrote the chapter on Maryland, with data supports from the Maryland Department of Labor Licensing, and Regulations and Maryland Department of Human Services, data management support from John Janak and Sang Truong, JFI database managers and administrative support from other JFI staff members.