Working age, non-disabled adults without children (referred to as ABAWDs, or “able bodied adults without dependents”) can only receive SNAP for 3 months in a 36-month period unless they are working or participating in qualifying work activities at least 20 hours per week. These resources provide an overview of the ABAWD time limit and explains how this provision hurts people.
Policymakers have threatened to implement policies that would make SNAP food benefits harder to access for certain groups, including the disabled community.
This policy report highlights state options to expand SNAP access to students with low incomes—beyond the temporary student provisions in the recent COVID-19 relief bill—and minimize unfair and unrealistic work requirements.
These policy recommendations address health and mental health, employment and economic security, education and career pathways, justice and safe communities, and child care for youth and young adults in America.
"The SNAP eligibility for students is really confusing already," said Parker Gilkesson, a policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy. The rule change would only "add confusion" to a program that's underutilized, as only four in 10 eligible students are enrolled in…
CLASP strongly opposes the USDA proposed regulation to limit SNAP for adults without dependents or documented disabilities. As antipoverty experts, we believe the proposed changes will not incentivize people to seek and maintain work, and will have damaging consequences for the well-being and long-term success…
The Federal time limit in SNAP already limits eligibility for childless adults aged 18-50, with some exemptions. But due to the complex nature of low-income households and extended families, mothers and children are at risk of being harmed by the USDA's proposed SNAP rule.
Elizabeth Lower-Basch was quoted in this article about the harmful effects of proposed changes to SNAP: "Already disadvantaged by low wages and unpredictable hours, people working in part-time jobs in industries such as fast food, hospitality, and retail could be devastated."
Elizabeth Lower-Basch was quoted in this article: "'The jobs that people get often have very highly variable hours, often in retail, food service, warehouses, contingent work,” said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, director of income and work supports at the Center for Law and Social Policy. “They don’t…
In this article, Elizabeth Lower-Basch was quoted about how Republicans are shifting their focus to low-income men regarding reforming the nation's safety net: "The poster-child mental image [policymakers] are painting is of men, especially young men."