The 90-day limit on SNAP benefits for adults who do not work at least 20 hours is punitive and does not create job openings, said the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on Monday in asking Congress to eliminate the limit, created as part of welfare reform in 1996. “Taking basic food assistance away from people in desperate circumstances should be unacceptable in a wealthy nation,” it said in a report.
Congress suspended the so-called ABAWD rule, which applies to able-bodied adults aged 18-49 without dependents, in March 2020 until the end of the pandemic health emergency. “The best course would be for Congress, as part of a comprehensive recovery package, to permanently eliminate the three-month time limit and restore access to food assistance benefits for these individuals on the same basis as applies to other non-elderly or disabled participants,” said the Center on Budget.
The ABAWD rule limits benefits to 90 days in a three-year period unless recipients work at least 20 hours a week, perform workfare or are enrolled in job training. The Center on Budget said the rule ignores the realities of employment for low-income people, “doesn’t create more job opportunities or better equip workers to maintain work,” and is burdensome for states to enforce.
The Trump administration made the ABAWD rule more stringent by restricting the ability of states to waive the 90-day limit on grounds there were insufficient jobs in an area. It also sought broader application of work requirements as a condition for access to social welfare programs. Proponents said the requirements would encourage recipients to move into employment or accept better-paying jobs.
The report is available here.