Multiple Safety Net Program Participation: Incidence, Impediments, and Implications

• In Event: Administration of the Safety Net

Abstract

Multiple program participation is a defining yet understudied aspect of the U.S. social safety net. Using linked administrative records from Virginia, we show that half of program recipients received benefits from two or more programs, 80% of whom are in households with children. Despite this, the take-up of multiple programs remains incomplete, particularly among individuals living farther from their assigned field office. We examine the impacts of a technological reform that streamlined applications for multiple programs (primarily SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF) through a centralized online platform. We develop a novel empirical framework to identify the reform’s total effect, via complementary research designs that distinguish between changes in “geographic” and “fixed” administrative burdens that impede access based on distance to field office. The reform increased multiple program participation by nearly 5%, with a meaningful share of new enrollees transitioning from single to multiple program receipt. These intensive-margin responders were disproportionately more disadvantaged (with lower labor market attachment and greater criminal justice involvement), suggesting the most vulnerable responders are those who would otherwise have been partially rather than fully detached from the safety net. Our results imply that the Marginal Value of Public Funds of the policy reform could be understated by up to 30–64% if evaluated based on changes to a single program alone, highlighting the importance of considering multiple programs in welfare analyses.

Authors

• Neil Cholli, Cornell University

• Derek Wu, University of Virginia