Table 1.
Public opinion regarding federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by sociodemographic factors (n = 3,024)
| Increase or Maintain Spending
|
Decrease Spending
|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | % | Weighted % | 95% CI for Weighted % | Frequency | % | Weighted % | 95% CI for Weighted % | p-value* | ||
| Overall | 2,244 | 74 | 77 | (75, 79) | 700 | 23 | 21 | (19, 23) | ||
| Party ID | Republican | 697 | 57 | 61 | (58, 65) | 490 | 40 | 36 | (33, 40) | |
| Democrat | 1,204 | 88 | 88 | (86, 90) | 128 | 9 | 10 | (8, 12) | < 0.0001 | |
| Independent | 245 | 77 | 81 | (76, 86) | 56 | 18 | 16 | (11, 21) | ||
| Region | Northeast | 437 | 79 | 79 | (75, 83) | 108 | 19 | 19 | (15, 23) | |
| Midwest | 511 | 75 | 76 | (72, 80) | 150 | 22 | 22 | (18, 26) | 0.417 | |
| South | 795 | 71 | 75 | (72, 78) | 291 | 26 | 23 | (20, 26) | ||
| West | 501 | 75 | 80 | (76, 83) | 151 | 23 | 18 | (14, 21) | ||
| Income | LT $35K | 761 | 83 | 87 | (85, 90) | 127 | 14 | 11 | (9, 13) | |
| $35K-LT$50K | 281 | 77 | 77 | (72, 83) | 81 | 22 | 22 | (16, 28) | ||
| $50K-LT$75K | 291 | 68 | 72 | (66, 77) | 125 | 29 | 26 | (21, 30) | < 0.0001 | |
| $75K-LT$100K | 226 | 71 | 69 | (63, 76) | 88 | 28 | 29 | (23, 35) | ||
| $100K or more | 339 | 67 | 68 | (63, 73) | 157 | 31 | 31 | (26, 36) | ||
| DK/Refused | 346 | 69 | 71 | (65, 76) | 122 | 24 | 23 | (18, 27) | ||
| Education | <= HS | 776 | 79 | 81 | (78, 84) | 173 | 18 | 16 | (14, 19) | |
| Some college | 630 | 74 | 76 | (73, 80) | 206 | 24 | 22 | (19, 25) | < 0.0001 | |
| >= College | 805 | 70 | 70 | (67, 74) | 314 | 27 | 27 | (24, 30) | ||
| Race/ Ethnicity | White NH | 1,642 | 72 | 74 | (72, 76) | 591 | 26 | 24 | (22, 26) | |
| Black NH | 272 | 91 | 91 | (87, 95) | 19 | 6 | 7 | (3, 10) | < 0.0001 | |
| Hispanic | 142 | 83 | 84 | (77, 90) | 25 | 15 | 15 | (9, 21) | ||
| Other/Mixed Race | 147 | 74 | 77 | (69, 84) | 48 | 24 | 22 | (15, 29) | ||
| Gender | Male | 1,077 | 71 | 74 | (71, 77) | 408 | 27 | 24 | (21, 27) | 0.001 |
| Female | 1,167 | 78 | 80 | (77, 82) | 292 | 19 | 18 | (15, 20) | ||
| Age | 18–34 | 253 | 79 | 81 | (77, 86) | 61 | 19 | 17 | (13, 21) | |
| 35–44 | 237 | 72 | 73 | (68, 78) | 83 | 25 | 24 | (20, 29) | ||
| 45–54 | 440 | 75 | 77 | (74, 81) | 132 | 23 | 21 | (17, 24) | < 0.0001 | |
| 55–64 | 577 | 78 | 79 | (76, 82) | 153 | 21 | 19 | (16, 22) | ||
| 65+ | 726 | 71 | 72 | (69, 75) | 260 | 25 | 23 | (21, 26) | ||
% = Percent; CI = confidence interval; $ = U.S. Dollars; K = Thousand; HS = High School; DK = Don’t know; NH = non-Hispanic
p-value based on Rao-Scott Chi-square test of association between demographic categories and attitudes towards spending (increased a lot, increased a little, or kept the same vs. decreased a little, decreased a lot, or don’t know) on SNAP adjusting for survey design.
Note: Proportions are presented based on both un-weighted and weighted frequencies. Party identification as Democrat or Republican includes those who responded as Independents but reported leaning towards either party. Whites, blacks, and other/mixed race are non-Hispanic; Hispanics are of any race. Responses to the SNAP spending question are not reported from respondents answering “Don’t Know” or refusing responses to demographic questions unless the “Don’t Know/Refused” category was greater than 10% of respondents to the demographic question.