Almost 20% of Louisiana residents receive food stamps: study

A Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana survey indicates nearly one in five Louisianans receive food stamps also known as SNAP. Of those recipients about 45 percent are children.

Invest in Louisiana executive director Jan Moller said it shouldn’t be a surprise but should be disturbing.

“And frankly one in five almost seems a little bit low, because we know according to the United Way ALICE report that about half of the households in our state struggle to make ends meet week to week, month to month,” said Moller.

Based on household size and monthly income, the average SNAP benefit amount per household is $372.99 a month since July 2023.

Moller said even though nearly half of the households in Louisiana have trouble making ends meet, they don’t all necessarily qualify for assistance. He said SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is not meant to be a catchall, its purpose is to provide supplemental aid to help with food insecurity.

“All it does is help people get enough healthy food to eat, and it also puts money in the pockets of retailers, farmers markets, all the vendors in our state, around the state that sell food,” said Moller.

During the legislative session when Governor Jeff Landry wanted to cut the Summer EBT program for school-aged children to receive meals when they were out of school, it was met with bipartisan resistance. Moller said the state only pays $3-million in administrative costs for the federally funded program.

“I think legislators certainly understood that this was federal dollars that were going to be spread throughout the state that were going to a good cause. All of it is going to buy food for families that otherwise would go hungry,” said Moller.

The decision was overturned and Louisiana did participate in the Summer EBT program.

PAR said that compared to other southern states, Louisiana had the most SNAP recipients relative to the total population last year.

Parishes with the highest number of SNAP recipients, in May of 2024 are East Baton Rouge, Orleans, Jefferson, Caddo, and Lafayette.