[Excerpt of front page news story by Alex Putterman, across Hearst CT newspapers, 11/10/25]
About one in four Connecticut households has used the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program at some point, and most adults in the state want to see the program strengthened, not weakened, a new survey shows.
Amid coming cuts to SNAP eligibility and a federal government shutdown that has frozen the program, a detailed survey from the nonprofit DataHaven offers new insight into who uses food assistance in Connecticut and what state residents think should happen to it moving forward.
According to the survey, 26% of Connecticut adults say they or someone in their household have received SNAP benefits at some point, with about half of that group saying they received the benefits within the past 30 days.
State data shows hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents receive SNAP, including people in all 169 towns across Connecticut.
Responses in the DataHaven survey varied significantly by demographic group, with 50% of Black adults saying they or someone they live with have received SNAP, compared to 40% of Latino adults and 20% of white adults. Additionally, people who live in "urban core towns" were far more likely to have received SNAP than those in suburbs, and those with lower incomes were, unsurprisingly, far more likely than those with higher incomes.
Still, the survey data shows the breadth of SNAP across demographic groups. More than one in 10 Connecticut adults with a bachelor's degree or higher say they or someone in their household has received SNAP, as do more than one in 10 who have incomes between $100,000 and $200,000.
Women were significantly more likely than men to report using SNAP, with 32% of female respondents saying they or someone in their household had received food assistance through the program, compared to 20% of men. Meanwhile, 36% of those with children in their home report someone in their household having received SNAP, compared to 21% of those without children.
Among people who previously received SNAP but no longer do, most said they stopped because they became ineligible, usually due to an increase in income, but another 28% said they stopped because the application process was too difficult, the benefits weren't worth the trouble or simply because they chose to.
"These numbers help communities understand who depends on safety net programs, and how policy changes like the pause in SNAP benefits are likely to drive a huge increase in demand at food banks," DataHaven Executive Director Mark Abraham said in a statement.
The new data comes as millions of Americans go without SNAP benefits during the ongoing federal government shutdown. Though a judge has ordered President Donald Trump's administration to release November SNAP payments, it was unclear as of Friday afternoon whether the administration would comply or when those benefits might be available in Connecticut.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Friday that if the federal government does not release the benefits, the state will supply the funds to cover them.
Even once the shutdown ends, however, some Americans are likely to lose SNAP benefits due to the spending bill passed earlier this year by Trump and congressional Republicans, which reduces the share of funding the federal government will commit toward the program.
According to the DataHaven survey, 45% of Connecticut adults are "very concerned" that government policies will lead to more families struggling to afford food due to SNAP cuts, while another 22% were "somewhat concerned."
Additionally, 51% of Connecticut adults say the government currently provides "not enough assistance" through SNAP, while 23% said it provides "the right amount of assistance" and only 12% said it provides "too much assistance."
Food insecurity in Connecticut has increased in recent years, data shows, amid inflation and the expiration of certain pandemic-era social safety net programs.
DataHaven also asked about changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, both of which also face cuts in the Republican spending bill, and found similar results: 52% of Connecticut adults are "very concerned" more adults and children will become uninsured, and another 22% are "somewhat concerned."
The 2025 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey, conducted in partnership with Siena Research Institute, featured interviews in English and Spanish with 1,371 Connecticut adults between Aug. 4 and Oct. 16, followed by statistical weighting to ensure the results accurately represent the state population.
For statewide results, the maximum margin of error is 3.5%, DataHaven says.
