The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) serves as a crucial support for many individuals; however, beginning in 2025, participants will be required to fulfill certain requirements.

work requirements

To keep qualification. This change highlights the initiative’s two-pronged approach to both reduce food insecurity and encourage independence via work.

For people between the ages of 16 and 59 who can work, SNAP has specific rules they must follow. These include registering for employment, not leaving their job or cutting back hours to less than 30 weekly without good cause, and taking any appropriate jobs offered to them. They also have to engage with SNAP’s Employment and Training (E&T) programs or similar services provided by the state workforce system.

Specifically, individuals between the ages of 18 and 54 who are in good health and do not have dependents—referred to as Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependent (ABAWD)—are subject to tighter requirements. These adults need to work for more than three months over a span of three years, with an average of at least 20 hours each week. Their participation can include paid employment, volunteer activities, or trading services, provided they accumulate a total of at least 80 hours per month.

Failure to meet these

work requirements

This can lead to the termination of SNAP benefits. A first offense typically triggers at least a one-month disqualification period. Further violations could result in extended bans or possibly lifelong expulsion from the program.

Nevertheless, certain exceptions exist to these strict regulations. People who are currently employed for at least 30 hours each week or earn wages equal to what they would make from such work are excluded. Similarly, individuals enrolled in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) initiative or those collecting unemployment benefits do not have to comply with these stipulations.

Further exceptions encompass caregivers looking after children aged six or younger, as well as those tending to disabled persons; people who have verifiable physical or psychological impairments; individuals receiving therapy for addiction issues; and students carrying at least half-time course loads, particularly favoring those attending colleges.