Name: U.S. Food benefits crisis: Work requirements and restrictions hit hard
Uploaded: 2026-01-02T02:09:23.089Z
Duration: 2 min 37 s
Description: Tougher SNAP rules add work mandates and curbs on food choices as 42m low-income Americans rely on aid amid rising living costs.

Tougher SNAP rules add work mandates and curbs on food choices as 42m low-income Americans rely on aid amid rising living costs.

The U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is undergoing significant changes, with new federal rules introducing stricter work requirements and purchase restrictions for recipients. These changes will affect millions of low-income Americans, including the elderly, disabled, and families with children, who already face rising living costs and limited benefits.

Starting March 1, able-bodied adults aged 18 to 64 without young children must work at least 80 hours per month to maintain benefits, with further restrictions on what foods can be purchased in 18 states. States will also assume more administrative costs, and experts warn these measures could make it harder for vulnerable populations to access food assistance.

U.S. Food benefits crisis: Work requirements and restrictions hit hard

The U.S. Food Benefit Program, called SNAP, is a lifeline for millions of low-income Americans already dealing with rising housing, health care, and transportation costs. Now they have to deal with new federal rules that could make it much harder for them to feed their families. 42.4 million Americans, or one in eight people, receive food aid through SNAP. This includes legal permanent residents, but not undocumented persons, refugees, or asylum seekers. Seventy percent of SNAP recipients are either elderly, disabled, and unable to work, or children. The national average benefit for a household is less than $351, and many say with the rising cost of food, the benefit runs out before the end of the month. A former SNAP recipient says complying with government rules was stressful. Every week I was trying like my best to find like side gigs or like some way to like you know get some hours so I could receive my benefits. To qualify for SNAP, recipients must prove they have very little income and assets, no more than $3,500 for a family of four. And now the law requires all able-bodied adults between 18 and 64 to work at least 80 hours a month unless they have children under the age of 14. What's more, if people who could work choose not to, the government will give them only 12 weeks support in a three-year period. Experts say this is going to put SNAP recipients in a real bind. It's hard enough to get and keep a job if you're having trouble getting good child care or reliable transportation. Now you're running the risk of possibly losing your SNAP benefits. Regardless, the new work requirements start on March 1st. Plus, states take over half of the federal government's administrative costs on October 1st, a hit to their own budgets. And new limits on what recipients can buy with SNAP start as soon as January 1st. In 18 states, SNAP can no longer be used to buy things such as sodas and energy drinks, candies, cookies, chips, and other non-nutritious foods. If the Trump administration could have its way, that would be the case in all 50 states. The Trump administration says the new SNAP rules will make Americans healthier and more self-reliant. Recipients say they'll just hurt people at their most vulnerable. Rosalynn Jordan, Al Jazeera, Washington.

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