The Effect of SNAP Participation on Mental Health: Using Marginal Effects to Bound Average Effects

Dr. Hannah Wich

Stephen F. Austin State University

May 7, 2025, Wednesday. 12:00 – 1:00PM

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Join us EITHER in perhttps://forms.gle/doW7hdwEYcnR6Npk6son on the Texas A&M University Campus, College Station, TX in Teague 326 or on Zoom (link provided after registration).

 Lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.

Seminar Abstract:

This study introduces a novel nonparametric approach to partially identify the causal average treatment effect (ATE) of SNAP participation on mental health, such as nonspecific psychological distress (NPD). In our application, the ATE reveals how the fraction of low-income adults in good mental health would differ if all participated in SNAP versus all not participating. Point-identifying the ATE requires strong, and arguably untenable, assumptions about the data, how participants behave, and the factors leading to SNAP participation. Most importantly, respondents are not randomly assigned into the program. A selection problem arises because the choice to participate depends on unobserved factors such as financial stability, human capital characteristics, disability, and motivation toward work, all thought to be jointly related to SNAP participation and mental health outcomes. Instead of attempting to point-identify the ATE, we establish bounds on this quantity by leveraging state-level variation in SNAP program eligibility rules. These rules, which affect the difficulty in joining the program, plausibly affect participation without otherwise affecting mental health status. Our approach partially identifies the ATE by extrapolating from the population of SNAP compliers – i.e., those who respond to the variation in eligibility rules. Partial identification in this setting relies on two assumptions: (i) costs associated with receiving SNAP – such as stigma or administrative burdens – are monotonically related to psychological distress, and (ii) SNAP participation does not, on average, exacerbate psychological distress. We extend our approach to partially identify policy relevant treatment effects (PRTE) and bound the effect on mental health of a change in the propensity to participate in SNAP by loosening income eligibility requirements and increasing the proportion of states that exclude cars from the asset test.

BIO

Dr. Hannah Wich is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Finance at Stephen F. Austin State University. Originally from Germany, she earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Dakota and her Ph.D. in Economics from Iowa State University in 2023.

Dr.Wich’s research focuses on consumer food choice decisions and strategies to alleviate food insecurity, with interests spanning public economics, health economics, and applied microeconomics. She utilizes retailer data to examine food purchasing behavior, particularly the role of SNAP participation and bulk purchasing decisions. Additionally, she explores the intersection of mental health, food insecurity, and SNAP, contributing to a deeper understanding of how food assistance programs impact well-being. Her methodological interests include using partial identification techniques to obtain causal estimates, allowing for more robust policy-relevant insights in settings where traditional causal inference methods face limitations.