WASHINGTON – Millions of families will have less money for food because of the expiration of an additional benefit created during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides more than 20 million households with a monthly allowance for food at grocery stores, with increased benefits for those on lower incomes. The average monthly allowance for a family of three is about $586.
The first pandemic benefits law passed by Congress in 2020 allowed SNAP recipients to receive the maximum benefit for the number of people in a household: $740 for a family of three this year.
More than 30 states and the District of Columbia still have “emergency benefits,” but the extra benefit will disappear starting in March. About 16 million families will see their per-person benefits drop by about $82, according to the Food Research and Action Center, or FRAC, a hunger advocacy group.
People who only qualify for the minimum SNAP benefit, such as older Americans who receive Social Security payments, will see their monthly benefits cut from $281 to $23.
The program, formerly known as food stamps, is one of the federal government’s largest income support policies. The drop in additional funds could hurt the economy, as affected households’ food budgets fall by $2.9 billion in total, according to FRAC estimates.
Ellen Vollinger, who leads FRAC’s SNAP-related advocacy efforts, called the income cuts a hunger cliff.
“It’s steep and wide and steep,” Vollinger said. “The public probably doesn’t realize until it arrives.”
HuffPost Readers: Will a cut in SNAP benefits have a big impact on your family? Tell us about it – email [email protected] Please include your phone number if you would like to be interviewed.
Congress created the supplemental benefits as part of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act in March 2020. original guide of the US Department of Agriculture told states that they could “lead all families to maximum benefits due to pandemic-related economic conditions for up to 2 months.” Of course, the pandemic lasted much longer.
The federal government is still working on a pandemic emergency declaration, although the Biden administration announced this week that the emergency will end in May. Supplemental SNAP benefits expire before then, because in December, Congress transitioned the funds to a permanent summer nutrition program for children using the free or reduced price school canteen.
Lawmakers told HuffPost this week that they knew the biggest advantage had to expire sooner or later and regretted that it would disappear so suddenly. But Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said the change will ultimately be a good thing.
“The good news is that we were able to get bipartisan support in the year-end package to be able to take some of those funds to put into a permanent summer program for kids,” Stabenow said. “This will feed 29 million children. So, considering everything that happened, this was a very good result.”
This isn’t the first time millions of SNAP recipients have faced a significant reduction in benefits across the board. In 2013, Congress used money set aside to boost benefits after the Great Recession to fund a school lunch initiative. The resulting SNAP cut in November became a big news for local newspapers and TV stations after receiving little national attention.
The average benefit per person fell by about $11 at that time, much less than the reduction that took place in March. But it was still enough of a hit on grocery budgets that retailer Walmart, where many SNAP recipients redeem their benefits, disclosed to investors that “the impact on sales from the reduction in SNAP benefits that took effect on November 1 is greater than we expected.”
This year’s cut comes amid a slowdown in consumer spending, still-high inflation and worries from some economists about a possible recession looming.
I’m a passionate and motivated journalist with a focus on world news. My experience spans across various media outlets, including Buna Times where I serve as an author. Over the years, I have become well-versed in researching and reporting on global topics, ranging from international politics to current events.