The Effects of State-Level SNAP Expansions during COVID-19 on Food Insecurity Inequalities Among Children of Immigrants

Background and Purpose: Food insecurity is a critical social determinant of child health and disproportionately affects children of immigrants (COI), who face structural barriers to public benefits. During the COVID-19 pandemic, state-level expansions of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), including Emergency Allotments (EA), aimed to mitigate food insecurity. However, it remains unclear whether these policy responses benefited COI equitably. This study examines whether SNAP expansions reduced child food insecurity and whether these effects differed between COI and children from U.S.-born families.

Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study using repeated cross-sectional data from the 2018–2022 National Survey of Children’s Health (N = 193,140). A difference-in-differences framework was used to estimate the association between SNAP EA implementation and household food insecurity, measured using a caregiver-reported 4-point scale. We compared changes in food insecurity before and after EA implementation between SNAP-participating and non-participating households, adjusting for child, household, and state-level covariates, including immigration policy climate. A triple-difference model was used to assess whether effects differed by COI status (defined as having at least one foreign-born parent). Sensitivity analyses restricted samples to income-eligible households.

Results: SNAP EA implementation was associated with a reduction in household food insecurity among children (β = −0.11; 95% CI: −0.14, −0.07), corresponding to an 8.6% decrease relative to the sample mean. However, the magnitude of this reduction was significantly smaller for COI compared to children from U.S.-born families (interaction β = 0.08; 95% CI: 0.00, 0.15). Estimated reductions were approximately −0.12 points for non-COI and −0.04 points for COI, indicating that benefits for COI were roughly one-third as large. In sensitivity analyses restricted to SNAP-eligible households (≤130% federal poverty level), differences by COI status were no longer observed (β = −0.006; 95% CI: −0.11, 0.10), suggesting comparable effectiveness among those who received benefits.

Conclusion and Implications: State-level SNAP expansions during COVID-19 were associated with reductions in child food insecurity overall but were less effective for COI at the population level. Findings suggest that disparities in eligibility and program access, rather than differential effectiveness of benefits, may explain these differences. Policies that expand inclusive eligibility, reduce administrative barriers, and leverage community-based outreach are essential to ensure equitable access to nutrition assistance. Addressing structural barriers to participation is critical for maximizing the public health impact of social safety net programs among immigrant families.