‘You can’t just give up’: Single mothers struggle to feed their families after extra SNAP benefits come to an end
By Zoe Han, Marketwatch, March 17, 2023
Higher food prices and the end of SNAP emergency allotments present a dual challenge for families
…
Congress authorized a temporary increase in SNAP [“food stamp”] benefits, called emergency allotments, in March 2020 to help people through pandemic-related business closures and job losses. These payments gave participants at least $95 on top of their original monthly benefits. …But the recent omnibus spending bill ended emergency allotments for most states after their February issuances. Households with children will lose $223 on average per month …
To qualify for SNAP benefits, most households must have a gross monthly income of less than 130% of the federal poverty line. (SNAP recipients in Alaska and Hawaii abide by slightly higher income limits.)
Some 45% of SNAP recipients have children, compared to 28% of non-SNAP households…
Nearly three in ten SNAP households said that “sometimes” there was not enough food to eat in the past 7 days, while 11% said there was “often” not enough to eat in the past 7 days, according to the Census Bureau Household Pulse survey polling more than 10 million SNAP households…[end quote]
From a Macro standpoint, the large food retailers will see a reduction in sales as SNAP recipients will be forced to reduce their food purchases. (Or they will shift to lower-cost food items.)
On a more local level, I will have to increase my donations to the local food bank.
Wendy