Map Shows How Each State Could Lose SNAP Benefits Under New Requirements

Newsweek

5 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Millions of Americans could lose some or all of their SNAP benefits due to newly approved work requirements, a think tank has found.
Why It Matters
SNAP benefits, also known as "food stamps," are paid to more than 40 million low- and no-income Americans across the U.S. to help with purchasing groceries.
Under the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), expanded work requirements to be eligible for the benefits will cover a larger group of Americans than before.
Under the new requirements, millions of previously eligible SNAP recipients could become ineligible.
What To Know
To continue receiving benefits, more individuals will be required to work or volunteer for at least 20 hours a week, or take part in training programs. Many who were previously exempt from these provisions could now be required to prove they meet these conditions or face the possibility of losing their SNAP benefits.
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a left-leaning think tank, more than 5 million SNAP recipients could be at risk of losing some or all of their benefits under the new OBBBA rules.
Beneficiaries in high population states with large numbers of SNAP claimants, like California, New York, Texas and Florida, would likely see the most people impacted. In these states alone, an estimated 1.2 million could be at risk of losing some or all of their benefits. In every U.S. state, between 5 percent and 12 percent of current SNAP recipients are at risk, according to the study.
In California, the nation's most populous state, 368,000 individuals—6.84 percent of the state's 5.38 million SNAP recipients—are considered at risk, according to the study. Florida shows a similar trend, with 253,000 at risk out of nearly 3 million beneficiaries. In Texas, 276,000 SNAP participants face potential loss—8.64 percent of the state's total recipients.
New York reports 318,000 people at risk—10.87 percent of its 2.93 million beneficiaries—making it one of the highest possible total impacts in the country, according to the report. Illinois follows closely with 205,000 at risk out of 1.9 million, or 10.59 percent.
Overall, the group found 26 states have over 8 percent of their SNAP populations at risk of part or all of their benefits.
What Are the New SNAP Work Requirements?
The new rules have introduced age-based changes to SNAP work requirements. Able-bodied adults between the ages of 55 and 64 who do not have dependent children, as well as parents of children aged 14 and older, must now work or volunteer at least 20 hours per week or participate in training programs to receive their benefits.
Previously, these requirements only applied to individuals up to age 54. Veterans, individuals experiencing homelessness and former foster youth could now also be subject to work requirements.
Parents with teenage children will also be affected. If their youngest dependent child is 14 or older, these parents will now have to meet the work requirements. However, children will still continue receiving benefits even if their caregivers lose eligibility.
It could also become more difficult for states to waive these requirements, as waivers will only eligible in areas with unemployment rates above 10 percent.
What People Are Saying
The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), a right-wing think-tank based in Naples, Florida, wrote in a May 16 report: "Most able-bodied adults on the program are exempt from work requirements and bureaucratic loopholes have allowed states to skirt them even further—waiving them for as many able-adults as possible. Even worse, the Obama and Biden administrations actively pressured states to continue this trend, leaving millions of able-bodied adults trapped in a cycle of dependency. With millions of open jobs nationwide and labor force participation rates behind pre-pandemic levels, it is more critical than ever to move able-bodied adults from welfare to work."
The CBPP in its report: "More than 5 million people will be at risk of losing at least some of their food assistance, including 800,000 children, under a significant expansion of SNAP's already harsh, ineffective, and red tape-laden work requirements to parents and other caregivers of children aged 14 and up and adults aged 55 to 64."
What Happens Next
The start date for expanded work requirements is not clear and was not included in the OBBBA text.