New SNAP Work Requirements and Their Implications on Hunger and Employment
As of December 1, new work requirements for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) have taken effect, demanding that non-disabled adults up to age 65 must demonstrate they work or are actively seeking work for at least 80 hours per month. This requirement includes homeless individuals, veterans, and former foster youth. According to the Congressional Budget Office, around 2.7 million people are expected to lose benefits under these rules.
Supporters of the policy characterize it as a moral measure intended to incentivize employment; House Speaker Mike Johnson described it as a moral component of the budget. However, the policy has been challenged on the grounds that hunger does not reliably motivate work. Historical examples illustrate this point, such as 19th-century practices where food was withheld from Native populations to force labor and post-emancipation Black farmworkers who endured coercive labor conditions amid hunger. The views of Townsend from 1786 are also referenced in this context.
Furthermore, the availability of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound demonstrates that hunger can be medically controlled, which contradicts the idea that hunger itself drives productivity or work.
Empirical evidence suggests that such work requirements do not meaningfully increase employment. Additionally, the burden of proving 80 hours of work per month is significant. Prior to the new rules, about one in eight SNAP recipients had already lost benefits due to paperwork hurdles, according to the Urban Institute.
Many SNAP recipients are already employed or reside in households with earnings: in 2015, more than half of adult non-disabled SNAP recipients were employed, and almost 90% had a household member who worked within two years before or after receiving benefits.
The importance of SNAP is underscored by events such as the November government shutdown when 42 million Americans relied on SNAP benefits, highlighting widespread dependence on this support.
This analysis is authored by Dana Simmons, a UC Riverside professor and the author of "On Hunger: Violence and Craving in America."
