Did Hakeem Jeffries overstate share of veterans using food stamps?

EXPLAINER

Evidence shows Jeffries’s connection that astir 20 percent of seasoned households trust connected nutrient stamps is mostly false.

The person of the Democrats successful the United States House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, has slammed House Republicans for considering cuts to national information nett programmes, pointing retired that they would interaction veterans.

“About 20 percent of households with veterans trust upon supplemental nutritional nutrient assistance,” the typical for New York’s 8th Congressional District said connected Thursday, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), sometimes called nutrient stamps.

Jeffries’s connection followed quality reports that House Republicans are pushing to bounds aboriginal SNAP benefit increases, adhd further enactment requirements and displacement immoderate SNAP costs – which historically person been wholly paid by the national authorities – to states.

Jeffries cited an inaccurate figure. The stock of veterans relying connected SNAP benefits is astir 8 percent, according to an April 2 study from the Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities, a wide deliberation tank.

Jeffries’s bureau did not supply grounds to backmost up his statement.

The Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities study cited Department of Agriculture information showing that 11 percent of veterans aged 18 to 64 nationwide experienced food insecurity from 2015 to 2019. The section defined nutrient insecurity arsenic “limited oregon uncertain entree to capable food” due to the fact that of a deficiency of economical resources. The section recovered that veterans were 7 percent much apt than nonveterans to acquisition nutrient insecurity aft controlling for a scope of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.

The centre’s study utilized US Census Bureau information from 2021 to 2023 to estimation the fig of veterans surviving successful households that received immoderate SNAP benefits during the 12 months earlier being surveyed.

The study estimated that much than 1.2 cardinal veterans lived successful households receiving SNAP benefits, which is 8 percent of the full colonisation of 16.2 cardinal US veterans during that period.

Luis Nunez, a probe expert with the Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities and writer of its report, said the 8 percent covers each veterans whether they unrecorded unsocial oregon with others.

The highest percent of veterans connected nutrient stamps successful immoderate authorities was 14 percent successful Oregon, followed by 11 percent successful Louisiana, New Mexico and West Virginia.

Nationally, 8% of veterans person nutrient stamps; nary authorities is higher than 14%

Data from a fewer years earlier showed little percentages than the Center connected Budget and Policy Priorities report.

The Rand Corporation deliberation vessel studied information from 2015 to 2020 and recovered 4.9 percent of veterans nationwide lived successful households receiving SNAP benefits astatine immoderate constituent successful the erstwhile 12 months. A 2022 Government Accountability Office study recovered 6.5 percent of each veterans received SNAP benefits successful 2019. And the Agriculture Department recovered that successful 2018 and 2019, the mean was 6.6 percent.

Our ruling

Jeffries said, “About 20 percent of households with veterans trust upon” the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

An April 2 survey recovered that 8 percent of veterans successful the US trust connected SNAP benefits. No authorities had a stock higher than 14 percent.

Studies with information from a fewer years earlier amusement rates from 4.9 percent to 6.6 percent.

There’s an constituent of information that veterans look nutrient insecurity astatine a higher level than nonveterans. But the connection ignores captious facts that would springiness a antithetic impression. So we complaint the connection mostly false.