Human Needs Watch: Why SNAP Cuts Hurt People and Must Not Pay for Tax Breaks for the Wealthy- Words and Pictures
The budget resolution passed by the House of Representatives included instructions to the Agriculture Committee to come up with a plan to cut spending by $230 billion over 10 years. There is no way to do that without taking most or all of this huge figure from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP serves over 40 million people; about 8 in 10 SNAP households included either a child, an elderly individual, or a nonelderly individual with a disability. One in five children in the U.S. benefit from SNAP. The losses to this large population of people in need would be huge. Rather than trying to convey the costs with numbers alone, this Human Needs Watch includes stories about real people, with thanks to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger for sharing these stories. We are also grateful to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities for state fact sheets that we drew upon in talking about the individuals depicted. Various proposals for cuts have been made – from cutting the meager average $6.20 per person per day SNAP benefit down to about $4.80 per person per day, to increasing the number of people whose benefits are limited to only 3 months in 2 years if they cannot show steady work, to shifting some of the costs of SNAP to states. All of these options will lead either to harsh reductions in benefits and/or benefits ending altogether for some.
In order to drive home the point that SNAP benefits are modest now and that further cuts would cause great hardship FRAC is asking us to join the SNAP Challenge this week, from March 18-20- see their toolkit for more promotional content. Sign up, and try to buy enough food to live on with about $6 a day per person. Think about how much worse it would be if you had to cut that down by $1.40 a day. They’d like you to spread the word about how little this is, through social media, LTE’s – and we respectfully suggest you tell your representative and senators. You can add your experience with the SNAP Challenge to this letter opposing SNAP cuts. Whatever you do – please don’t be silent. The Trump Administration and its slim majority in Congress want to make drastic cuts to human needs programs including SNAP in order to pay for tax cuts that primarily enrich the rich.
Mikayla’s story (Missouri) |
“I am a chronically ill single mother, full time college student, and a substitute teacher. I am very low income and won’t be able to make much more without graduating college. SNAP ensures my daughter has healthy food to eat and that I can eat a healthy diet to take care of my health. Without SNAP, I couldn’t afford the right foods.” From FRAC, SNAP Matters.
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68%; 34%
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In Missouri in 2024, more than 68 percent of households receiving SNAP included children; more than 34 percent included people with disabilities or older adults. SNAP lifted 107,000 people out of poverty in Missouri, including 46,000 children (on average between 2015-2019).
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Tim’s story“That’s what happened to me…they cut me off food stamps. After three months, if you’re not fulfilling the work requirements, you don’t qualify. So, that’s a huge crack in the system.” Tim is a Navy veteran who served during the Persian Gulf War, but he did not serve long enough to qualify for veterans’ benefits — 20 months instead of 24 months. Following an injury, he was unable to work and applied for SNAP (formerly food stamps) so he could afford food. But he was cut off from SNAP after three months, because he could not meet the stringent work requirements — he became homeless and lost so much weight that he had to add seven holes on his belt. He was finally able to find assistance from his local food bank, but that only provided a few meals per week. Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
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-25% |
When SNAP 3-month time limits were reimposed in 2016 for people without dependent children who could not show they were working, a study in Connecticut found a 25% reduction in SNAP participants, mostly people with chronic illnesses like diabetes, or who were older (40-49) with multiple health conditions, or had very low incomes. This Journal of the American Medical Association study concluded that very few found jobs. So if Congress tries to save money be expanding work requirements, people will suffer and lose food, like Tim, but they won’t be more likely to find work.
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Shannon’s story (Michigan) |
“We literally would not be able to eat and would rely solely on food pantries. My daughter is on formula and WIC doesn’t cover enough formula a month. I would have to water it down and cross my fingers that I wasn’t harming her. Food pantries do not typically get formula, let alone her dairy free formula.” Read more stories like Shannon’s from FRAC’s “SNAP Matters: Quotes from Participants” two-pagers.
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27%
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In Michigan, SNAP participants are very poor: 27 percent of SNAP participants had incomes below half the federal poverty line in 2022; another 42 percent had incomes between 51% and 100% of the poverty line (the U.S. poverty threshold for a family of 3 in 2024 was $24,940). 13 percent of people in Michigan were food insecure in 2023 – that is, they couldn’t afford enough nutritious food. From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities MI Fact Sheet.
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Whitney’s story“I had planned to work until I wasn’t able to anymore. I thought that after working hard all my life, I’d be living the good life now.” At age 62, after 16 years as a certified nursing assistant in rural Mississippi, Whitney was let go from her job. She found herself needing to apply for Social Security benefits early, not old enough for Medicare and unable to afford health insurance. She lived with constant stress, worried about managing her chronic health conditions and often forced to decide whether to buy food or medicine or pay bills. Click to Tweet (X), or re-share on Bluesky, and Threads.
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$109
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The average monthly SNAP benefit for a household including older adults in Mississippi was only $109 in 2022. 16.2 percent of people in MS were food insecure in 2023 – they couldn’t afford enough nutritious food. From Center on Budget and Policy Priorities MS fact sheet.
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From $1 billion to $750 million? |
Now, the federal government pays 100% of the cost of SNAP benefits. If Congress requires states to pay, for example, 10 percent of the costs, states that couldn’t pay it all would trigger a big reduction in benefits to that state. For example, a state with $1 billion in SNAP benefits would be required to pay $100 million towards that total. But if the state could only pay $75 million, that would be 10 percent of the new total = $750 million, a dramatic cut below the current $1 billion now paid in SNAP benefits.
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– $511
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On average, SNAP participants would lose $1.40 per person per day in benefits if $230 billion in SNAP cuts were achieved by cutting benefits across-the-board; that adds up to a $511 cut over a year. If the Trump tax proposal is adopted (including an estimate of proposed tariffs), in 2026 the poorest 20 percent (income from $0 to $28,600) would pay $790 more, while the richest 1 percent (income of $914,900 and up) would gain $36,320 in tax breaks. (Source: Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.) |
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