Exits from the Food Stamp Program following the passage of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act: Individual versus structural predictors in Mississippi

The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 brought many changes to public assistance in the U.S. The Food Stamp Program was affected by new emphases on earned benefits and devolution of authority, two tenets of welfare reform. This study examined those who left the Food Stamp Program in the year following the act's implementation using data from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. This and other data was used in a series of logistic regression models to determine which factors most influence exits from food stamps. Human capital theories suggest that those with personal characteristics that translate favorably to the job market would be able to raise their incomes over the poverty line and leave food stamps. Social capital theories propose that without available social resources clients would be unable to utilize human capital. This study confirms that individual level characteristics exert the most influence on decisions to leave food stamps.