Question regarding spmftotval & spmtotres

USA
1

I’m having some difficulty distinguishing between the “spmftotval” and “spmtotres” variables. Spmftotval’s variable description says it consists of “total cash income, rounded to the nearest dollar. Income sources in the ACS include wages and salary, self-employment income, interests, dividends, net rental income, royalty income, income from estates and trusts, Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, public assistance, retirement income, pensions, survivor or disability benefits, and any other income received regularly”. So it seems to include not only cash income but also social service benefits.

However spmtotres’s description claims that it consists of " The formula used to calculate SPMTOTRES is:
SPMTOTRES = [SPMFTOTVAL]+ ([SPMSNAP]+ [SPMCAPHOUS] + [SPMLUNCH]+ [SPMHEAT] + [SPMWIC] - ([SPMFICA]+ [SPMFEDTAXAC] + [SPMSTTAX]) - [SPMCAPXPNS] - [SPMMEDXPNS]

This suggests that spmftotval does not include the benefits from SNAP, WIC, etc.. Otherwise these benefits would be double counted in spmtotres. Can someone help clarify?

2

SPMFTOTVAL sums only the cash income received by the SPM family unit. The social services benefits would only be included if they are cash benefits to the SPM family unit. Programs that provide noncash benefits (e.g., WIC, SNAP) are not included in SPFTOTVAL. In the Supplemental Poverty Measure using the American Community Survey working paper linked on the SPMTOTRES variable description, the noncash benefits added to estimate total SPM resources are: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SPMSNAP), the National School Lunch Program (SPMLUNCH), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (SPMWIC), the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (SPMHEAT), and housing assistance (SPMCAPHOUS). The other variables listed in the SPMTOTRES formula are either taxes/deductions (SPMFICA, SPMFEDTAXAC, SPMSTTAX) or cash expenditures (SPMCAPXPNS, SPMMEDXPNS).

3

This helps a lot. Thank you for the clarification!