Stricter work requirements for food stamp recipients, particularly able-bodied adults, “can increase earnings and training,” but they can also mean a loss of benefits for people who can’t find a job, says a USDA report. Only five states currently guarantee a slot in a job-training or workfare program to able-bodied adults who are jobless and at risk of losing their benefits.
The Trump administration gave states the green light earlier this month to impose work requirements on Medicaid participants, and work requirements are expected to be a major part of the food stamp debate when Congress drafts the 2018 farm bill. Food stamps account for three-fourths of farm bill spending. Some 45.6 million people were enrolled in food stamps at latest count, with an average benefit of $145 a month, making food stamps one of the largest and most expensive social welfare programs.
House Agriculture chairman Michael Conaway has said he wants to make “meaningful reforms” in the program and has pointed to work rules as an area for action. Since 1971, work requirements have been part of the program, with working-age participants — with some exceptions — told to register for work, to accept a suitable job if offered one, not to quit a job or reduce work to fewer than 30 hours a week, and to take part in an employment and training program if referred to one by the state agency that runs the local food stamp program. Two-thirds of food stamp recipients are children, elderly, or disabled, so they are exempt from the work rule.
In the report, four USDA economists say the food stamp program “has increasingly served the working poor.” In 2014, roughly one-third of food stamp households reported earned income.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has called for tighter requirements for abled-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) in the 2018 farm bill. His four-page list of farm bill principles says federal nutrition programs should “support work as the pathway to self-sufficiency, well-being, and economic mobility for individuals and families.” Conservative lawmakers have focused on ABAWDs, who are limited to three months of benefits in a three-year period unless they work at least 80 hours a month or spend an equal amount of time in workfare or job training. States can waive the limit during high unemployment or when there are insufficient jobs.
“Work requirements do not decrease need or hunger,” tweeted Bread for the World, an anti-hunger group. In a fact sheet, the group says that “work is the surest way out of poverty” and that “so far, the most successful work programs have been voluntary programs that combine employment and education.”
The group also points out that “people can’t find and keep jobs if there are none available that they qualify for — work requirements or not. Too often, people instead lose their benefits and can afford even fewer groceries.”
USDA economists say work requirements illustrate the central tension of safety net programs: the balance between aiding people in need and reducing dependence on public assistance for those who can be self-sufficient. In that context, work requirements can encourage employment and “screen out” people who do not truly need aid.
States have the option of offering ABAWDs a spot in a workfare or job-training program so they can meet their work requirements, but they are not required to do so. “Due to the expense of operating a work program for everyone at risk of hitting the 3-month time limit, few states offer the program,” said the USDA. “In 2016, only five states (Colorado, Delaware, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin) pledged to offer all ABAWDs a slot in these programs.” The USDA says “too many states” do not take advantage of the employment and training funds that are available as part of the food stamp program.