Four to seven million adults impacted
The House of Representatives passed its annual farm spending bill late Thursday afternoon, shepherding through major reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The reforms would substantially overhaul the work requirements associated with SNAP, by expanding the age of eligibility and the number of parents who are covered by it. Estimates suggest that anywhere from four to seven million adults currently on the SNAP rolls would be put to work should the requirements changes be implemented. Such requirements are likely to be popular: a 2016 survey found that 87 percent of people support work requirements, including 81 percent living in poverty.
The overall effect on the SNAP population would be limited—about two-thirds of recipients fall outside of the requirements. However, the population of SNAP recipients who are not children, elderly, or disabled has grown precipitously since the Great Recession. The hope of lawmakers is that for the this group, work requirements combined with a billion-dollar annual investment in Employment and Training programs will help get parents back to work and off the dole.
