Based on more than a decade’s worth of data across 36 U.S. states, a study in Contemporary Economic Policy finds that spreading out food assistance payments over more days reduces financially motivated crimes—especially robberies.
Compared with a single-day lump-sum monthly distribution through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a disbursement schedule consisting of 15 or more distribution days was associated with a decline of 0.03 robbery incidents per 100,000 population. Similarly, when SNAP distribution was staggered across 15 or more days, the incidence of robbery also declined by 0.03 incidents per 100,000 population.
The study’s investigator estimated that an extended SNAP distribution schedule could potentially generate a benefit of $2.7 million in crime reduction in the United States over 1 year.
These findings offer a practical, cost-effective policy for improving community safety.
“Changing the SNAP benefit schedule is a nearly free policy change that could have enormous public benefits,” said corresponding author Licheng Xu, Ph.D., of Beijing Normal University, who conducted much of this work while earning his graduate degree in agricultural economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
More information:
Timing of SNAP disbursement and crime incidence in the United States, Contemporary Economic Policy (2025). DOI: 10.1111/coep.70005
Citation:
Adjusting the timing of food assistance payments could affect crime rates (2025, August 6)
retrieved 6 August 2025
from https://phys.org/news/2025-08-adjusting-food-payments-affect-crime.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
