Employment Changes and the Food Stamp Program

Abstract

This article examines the effect of increased coal production on the food stamp program in Kentucky's coal producing counties. The linkages between coal production and employment and the food stamp program were analyzed using a two-step economic model. Changes in employment in eastern Kentucky coal producing counties were more closely tied to coal output than in western Kentucky. Thus, reductions in the number ofrecipients and food stamp expenditures were greater in the East. Projections from 1973-1976 data suggest that any future coal related growth may lead to a reduction in food stamp payments wherever production methods are more labor intensive; however, it appears that welfare recipients in coal producing regions may well be worse off as a result of economic growth stimulated by a coal boom.

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