As the economy strengthens and more Americans are going back to work, the tide of SNAP enrollment and participation is beginning to ebb. Advocates of the program say this downward trend in both enrollment and usage indicates that SNAP is doing what it is intended to do.

“SNAP enrollment is supposed to increase when we have a recession and unemployment increases and people need it,” says Dr. John Cook, researcher and principal investigator with Children’s HealthWatch in Boston. “As the economy improves and unemployment goes down, SNAP decreases. We expected it to happen, and people can get really concerned about increasing enrollment in SNAP, but they forget that that’s what the program is intended to do.”

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