InfoTech Marketing Releases White Paper on Food Stamps: Subsidized Entertainment, Dining Out, Tobacco, and Donations

LITTLETON, Colo., Aug. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Food stamps subsidize questionable entertainment, eating out, tobacco, and donations expenditures according to a new study released today by InfoTech Marketing.  The study debunks the belief that people will starve without food stamps.  Food stamps households receive $252 monthly on average and spend $280 on these discretionary expenses.  Monthly spending by category includes:  entertainment, $112; food away from home, $105; tobacco products and smoking supplies, $48; and cash contributions (without child support):  $15

About 9.8 million households, or 8% of the U.S. total, received food stamps every month in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey data analyzed with proprietary InfoTech Marketing software.  The InfoTech Marketing study examines the spending patterns of these households.  They receive $30 billion in total annually in food stamps (now called SNAP payments) from the government.  Food stamps account for 12% of their income.  The average taxpaying household pays $247 annually, or 2.8% of their federal income tax payments, to support these households.

"While SNAP households typically spend less than their non-SNAP counterparts on these four categories, tobacco is the one category where their spending exceeds non-SNAP households," Tim Walters, InfoTech Marketing President, stated.  "At least 33% of SNAP beneficiaries spent money on tobacco products, roughly twice the 17% of other households."

Of the other categories, food stamp households spend the same 5% of their income as other households on entertainment and dining out, respectively.  They spend a much smaller percentage of their income on cash contributions than the more prosperous households.      

"One of the interesting findings is that 29% of food stamp recipients own their home," Walters added.  "Included in this amount is 18% of the recipients who own their homes without a mortgage.  The value of these houses or condos average $91,393."

The majority of food stamp households are headed by a high-school or less educated white woman with 1.1 children at home under 18 years old.  The black and Hispanic headed households' percentages receiving food stamps are twice their percentage of non-food stamp households.

This report uniquely focuses on spending by food stamp households and computes weighted averages across categories.  The full report is available at www.infotechmarketing.net/whitepapers.htm.

About InfoTech Marketing

Since 1994, InfoTech Marketing has been leveraging information and technology to exceed their clients' marketing goals. The company provides services in marketing strategy, market research, customer analytics, data mining, SAS programming, competitive intelligence and marketing plans. For more information, visit: www.infotechmarketing.net

Contact: Tim Walters
InfoTech Marketing
Phone 720-732-4588
[email protected]

SOURCE InfoTech Marketing