Research done by Alex Zhylyevskyy, associate professor, Brent Kreider, professor, and Helen Jensen, emeritus professor, published in the Southern Economic Journal, provides evidence that the SNAP and WIC programs are in fact complementary, not redundant. They found that participating in both SNAP and WIC compared to SNAP alone increases food security by at least 2 percentage points and potentially as much as 24 percentage points.
“Our findings can help policymakers design more efficient programs to meet food needs,” said Helen Jensen. “We know low-income families often participate in more than one food assistance program, and we find the combination of SNAP and WIC helps reduce food insecurity for participating households.”
The study was funded by the National Bureau of Economic Research. You can find the paper here.