If you’ve spent any time on social media recently, you have likely come across posts urging shoppers to wait until April 4 to purchase groceries.

These seemingly well-intentioned posts claim that food assistance and other governmental benefits are deposited on the first of every month, and implore shoppers to hold off on going to the grocery store from April 1-3 to give low-income residents an opportunity to use their benefits, while shelves remain stocked.

It’s a nice sentiment, but it isn’t accurate.

Recipients who participate in the federal food stamp program can receive their benefits on a range of different days during the month, depending on state regulations. According to the Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregonians who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, receive their benefits between the 1st and 9th of every month, depending on the last digit of the head of household’s Social Security Number.

Unlike SNAP recipients, low-income women and children who receive support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, do receive their benefits on the first of every month, according to the Oregon Health Authority. WIC recipients can only use their benefits to purchase certain food items.

If Oregonians who aren’t receiving government assistance hold off on going to the grocery store for the first three days of the month, that may help to ensure that items are available for WIC recipients. But it won’t do anything to help residents who rely on different government assistance programs.

Like SNAP benefits, Social Security benefits are not necessarily deposited on the first of the month. They are paid out on the second, third or fourth Wednesday of each month, depending on birthdate. People receiving both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits generally see their benefits on the third of each month.

Instead, it may be a lot more helpful for shoppers to stop hoarding essential food items during the coronavirus crisis and space out their trips to the grocery store, rather than avoid shopping on any specific dates.

WIC recipients, in particular, have limited options when it comes to what groceries they are allowed to purchase with benefits. Shoppers can help ensure that those recipients are able to buy the items that they need by avoiding WIC-labeled foods and being conscientious about the amount of pantry staples, such as milk and eggs, that they are purchasing.

Food items available to WIC recipients are not always labeled at grocery stores. A list of items that Oregon WIC recipients can purchase with their benefits and a list of stores that accept WIC benefits are available on the Oregon Health Authority website.

“We are not sending out an official message requesting people not shop on the 1-3rd,” wrote Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, in an email. “We feel this will set WIC participants apart and may create negative feelings toward this already vulnerable population. We are in frequent communication with stores and local agencies to monitor supply issues and are providing advice to WIC participants who are having issues purchasing their benefits.”

Nearly 600,000 Oregonians and 38 million Americans nationwide received SNAP benefits in 2019, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. There were 77,530 active WIC recipients in Oregon in February. For the first five months of 2019, states reported that over 6.4 million people participated in WIC per month, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com | @jamiebgoldberg

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