750,000 Americans in their 50s could lose food stamps unless they meet stricter job requirements

Welfare experts warn that 750,000 Americans in their 50s could lose their food stamps thanks to the expanded work requirements under the debt deal passed by Congress this week.

The debt plan expands work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to include those ages 50 to 54 — a group that was previously exempt.

In total, some 750,000 people in the US have been affected, says the left-wing Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Some may have to take jobs to keep their aid, others will be buried in extra paperwork.

Kofi Kenyatta, an anti-poverty campaigner at UpTogether, a non-profit organization, said the job requirements were “arbitrary and really brutal.”

Eligibility requirements for the SNAP became a lightning rod in debt agreement negotiations. Food banks across the country are struggling to meet rising demand as poor Americans face higher grocery costs as COVID-era benefits wear off.

California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois have the largest numbers affected by the rule change

The debt plan that President Joe Biden says he will sign includes work requirements to get food benefits.

The measure would exempt veterans, those who are homeless and young adults who are aging from foster care, provided they can prove their status.

The White House, which approved the deal as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, says SNAP enrollment will be about the same once the changes are implemented.

Kofi Kenyatta said the new food stamp rules were “cruel”.

Republicans argued during the negotiations that expanding job requirements would help more SNAP recipients get jobs and reduce their reliance on benefits.

Some progressive lawmakers said the job requirements were their reason for ignoring the debt deal.

Anti-hunger advocates say the new hurdles for older Americans will cause many to lose benefits, while the newly exempted groups will struggle to navigate complex bureaucracy to prove their status.

For example, people ages 50 to 54 may have health problems that limit their ability to meet the new requirement to work 20 hours a week, said Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Veterans and homeless people may have trouble collecting the proper documentation to prove their exemptions as part of the complex, state-by-state process of securing SNAP benefits, said Ellen Vollinger, SNAP director of the Food Research & Action Center.

“This will be a very tough job for caseworkers,” she said.

“It gets very confusing.”

The debt deal was a compromise between Democrats and Republicans

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who led Republican negotiations for the debt deal, has said the expanded job requirements will put more adults into work and thereby strengthen the economy.

Anti-hunger groups say the research doesn’t support that conclusion.

In a 2022 report, the Congressional Budget Office found that SNAP job requirements reduced recipients’ total income because the amount of work required made them ineligible for SNAP based on income.

Currently, SNAP recipients ages 18 to 49 with no dependents or disabilities must work 20 hours per week to receive benefits for more than three months over a three-year period.

The changes would increase that age limit to 54 years.

Colleen Young, director of government affairs for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, expects demand for her organization’s services and food supply to increase as the debt plan is implemented.

The food bank is already over budget as it distributes the second-highest pounds of free food in its history, a common story among emergency food providers as inflation hammers household budgets.

“It’s going to be a tension,” Young said.