“Food is a basic human right”: Activists call to end work requirements in nutrition assistance program

02 Jun 2023 --- The newly-passed US debt ceiling legislation adds work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to people aged 50 to 54 while exempting veterans, homeless people and young adults under 24 that recently left foster care. Anti-hunger activists call for an end to work requirements in the country’s largest federally funded nutrition program.

Without registering 80 work hours per month, SNAP beneficiaries can only receive benefits for three months over three years. As of October 2023, this will apply to “able-bodied adults” aged 18-54 that meet income requirements, do not have dependent children under 18 and cannot secure an exemption.

“Food is a basic human right and we do not believe that it ought to be conditioned on whether somebody’s working or not,” Ellen Vollinger, SNAP director for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), tells NutritionInsight. 

“I think that if most of the public hears ‘work requirements,’ they think it involves people choosing or not choosing to work, be willing to work or not. And that’s not what this is. This is an arbitrary time, simply for not reporting sufficient work hours.”

Proponents of the policy note the requirement encourages people to find a job if they can work. 

It was also expected that the changes in the SNAP program would reduce government spending. However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) shared estimates this week that the changes would increase direct spending by US$2.1 billion from 2023 to 2033. 

The new exemptions and increased age limit would terminate on October 1, 2030.

Food is a fundamental human right; it should not be conditioned on whether somebody’s working, urges Vollinger.Suspending time limits 
During COVID-19, the SNAP time limit was suspended, which significantly improved food security, according to Vollinger. However, as the White House announced the end of the public health emergency, the time limit will return on July 1, 2023. 

Vollinger notes that public attitudes toward hunger are not as divided as Congress. In a 2022 poll by the Century Foundation among 1,167 voters, 57% of respondents supported extending the pause on time limits after the pandemic ended. 

“The most meaningful, effective and equitable way to deal with this issue in the US is to get rid of the time limits altogether,” urges Vollinger.  

To that end, FRAC supports a proposed Improving Access to Nutrition Act, led by Congresswoman Barbara Lee of California, which would permanently eliminate time limits on SNAP eligibility. 

The organization is also attempting to strengthen SNAP benefit adequacy and equitable access by updating the new five-year Farm Bill, which is set to pass in the fall of 2023. 

Proposed changes in SNAP 
With the new exclusions to veterans, homeless and youth out of the foster system, the CBO estimates an additional 78,000 people would gain benefits per month. 

“We are very skeptical about whether or not these new exemptions are going to give complete protection for the groups that they intend to protect: the veterans, homeless and people aging out of foster care,” cautions Vollinger. 

She shares several challenges of implementing policies as intended. For example, in the current system, many people with disabilities are miscategorized at the state or county level, where they are screened for eligibility to work. 

Moreover, it is difficult to contact and serve homeless people. Vollinger adds that it will take a lot of work by the community to ensure populations know about the exemptions. 

She notes there is limited time for processes to adapt, as the changes add “a lot of administrative costs and burden on the American administrative system.”

Homeless people, veterans and youths under 24 aging out of the foster system are exempt from the work requirement.Under the current legislation, states can waive SNAP work requirements for people that live in areas without sufficient jobs and can use a limited number of monthly exemptions. The new bill is set to limit these exemptions, though the CBO estimates these changes would reduce SNAP spending by a “negligible amount.”  

“They’re cutting back on the number of individual case-by-case exemptions that states are going to be allowed to grant and they’re also putting parameters on the timeframe that they’ll have those available,” explains Vollinger. 

Impact on employment  
The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) notes that the work requirement in SNAP “has done more harm than good.” 

Based on analyzing 19 relevant studies, the organization concludes it has little or no positive impact on employment, excludes a substantial number of vulnerable people from SNAP and places administrative burdens on beneficiaries and officials. 

“There’s no research that we’ve seen that shows that this leads to better economic outcomes for people,” agrees Vollinger. 

The June 2022 CBO report “Work Requirements and Work Supports for Recipients of Means-Tested Benefits” indicates that the employment rate is 1% to 4% higher for non-disabled adults subject to the SNAP work requirements, based on data from Colorado, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Virginia. 

CBO refers to studies on recipients near 50 that reveal the work requirement reduced the number of non-disabled adults receiving benefits by 22% in Pennsylvania, 31% in Missouri and 53% in Virginia. 

42 million Americans 
In its 2022 work requirements report, the CBO estimates that SNAP’s work requirement results in many non-disabled adults having very low income because SNAP benefits had been their primary source of income. 

The work requirement will apply to non-disabled adults (18-54) that do not have dependent children and cannot secure an exemption.The CBO report also notes that the reduction in benefits appears more significant than the increase in earnings among adults who worked more because of the work requirement. 

“There are 42 million people poor enough that they already qualify for SNAP,” explains Vollinger.

She notes daily SNAP benefits are limited, sharing: “Congressman Jim McGovern points out to people routinely: Do we think people are not getting jobs because they’re able to access a benefit that amounts to an average US$6 a person a day?” 

CEPR adds: “that so many working-class people need basic food vouchers has little to do with the people themselves and everything to do with the rules that structure the economy. Those rules need to be changed in ways that produce inclusive prosperity.” 

“Pathway out of poverty” 
Proponents of the changes to SNAP and other policies that add work requirements to welfare programs note these reduce dependence on the government. 

Congressman Dusty Johnson introduced the America Works Act earlier in the year to reform work requirements for SNAP, such as raising the age limit to 65 and limiting states’ waivers to exempt individuals. 

“Work is the best pathway out of poverty,” Johnson noted in March 2023. “Work requirements have proven effective and people who can work should work. With more than eleven million open jobs, there are plenty of opportunities for SNAP recipients to escape poverty and build a better life.”

Proponents of work requirements in welfare programs note these encourage people to find jobs.Meanwhile, in a report by the Heritage Foundation, Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the Center for Health and Welfare Policy, advocated that “work requirements reduce unnecessary enrollments in welfare and spur more rapid exits.”

“Work requirements in welfare programs promote fairness: They automatically separate recipients who cannot find a job from those who refuse to work.” 

Nutrition program as safety net  
Researchers have found that participating in SNAP may help defend against accelerated deterioration of cognition in adults aged 65 or older. 

Moreover, researchers have called on US policymakers to address food and nutrition insecurity to improve public health, adding that food insecurity is associated with worse mental and physical health, health outcomes and an increased risk of diet-related illnesses and health conditions.

Vollinger and anti-hunger activists stress that the work requirement is “simply the status of being short of 80 hours a month, regardless of the reason. People could be searching for a job. There may or may not be jobs available.” 

“We have a problem in the US in terms of not enough full-time jobs with full-time hours,” Vollinger continues. “People are struggling to get the hours they need. This time limit will hit people regardless of whether they have some hours.” 

“If the US wanted to do something about employment and people’s financial pathways to stability, they would not be doing this through a nutrition program just there as a safety net,” concludes Vollinger.  

By Jolanda van Hal