The Government has implemented changes in the SNAP program, the program that every month helps more than 42 million people buy food and be able to eat with dignity. They want to save money and “stop fraud”, so they have changed the work requirements for those who want to access it. That is why we are going to explain to you step by step all the changes that have been made, so that you are prepared for this 2026.
Changes in SNAP
From the administration, they insist that the system has become “too expensive” and that it has been the victim of a lot of fraud. It may be true, nobody is going to deny that without data in hand, but it is a program that allows 42 million families to access healthy food, and experts warn that any type of cut can make families with lower incomes end up more harmed. Are they fixing a system or cutting a rope on which the food of millions depends?
The sustenance of part of the country
SNAP is probably one of the most important pieces of the social assistance system of this country, it moves more than 100,000 million dollars and offers about 190 dollars per person (that can only be spent on food and seeds)
But its size bothers the government, they believe it is too costly, it creates dependency… Because the people who receive this program do not want economic independence, they want to depend forever on a help program, obviously (irony).
“The fraud”
In recent years, federal audits found irregularities that have served as ammunition for wanting to start the program from 0, they say that there were beneficiaries who had died and continued receiving the aid, duplicate records, people who did not need it and were enrolled in the program…
So they have been “forced” to make changes, stricter controls, much more surveillance… but they want to start from 0, that is, undo the program to build it again. A madness.
EBT cards with more control
EBT cards will continue working as always, but now they will be more monitored, the states will have to report irregularities and justify each case correctly.
Not doing so may imply cuts, sanctions or loss of federal funds for that state.
Work requirements
Until now, certain adults had to prove that they worked or participated in training to find work, but now there are changes:
From 54 to 64 years: the new rules require that people up to 64 years old perform at least 80 monthly hours of work, training or volunteering to keep the aid. Clearly because they have not thought about how complicated it is to find work at 50.
More than 2 million people could lose this aid, but they call it efficiency… In reality it is abandoning those who have the least to their luck (literally)
And, according to the Government, this reform will encourage self-sufficiency (or rather the survival of many families…) and free up resources (that we do not know very well where they want to allocate).
And the social organizations?
Clearly they are against this change, we all know how overwhelming and exhausting it can be to look for a job, and SNAP is not a prize, it is an aid to avoid hunger, especially when 1 out of every 10 Americans lives below the poverty line…
In addition, we cannot forget our best friend inflation, which is still there lurking, so any change in an assistance program can become a social crisis immediately.
An old program
SNAP has been operating for almost a century, it has changed name, format, rules… But it had never been considered to start it from zero and leave 42 million families in uncertainty… Are we talking about savings or are we talking about collateral damage? Nobody should be fearing being left without access to food.