The think tank Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says “more than 500,000 and as many as 1 million of the nation’s poorest people” will lose food stamp benefits during 2016 “due to the return in many areas of a three-month limit on benefits for unemployed adults aged 18-49 who aren’t disabled or raising minor children.” During periods of high unemployment, the three-month limit can be waived by states.
“In 2016, the time limit will be in effect in more than 40 states. In 23 states, it will be the first time the time limit has been in effect since before the (2008-09) recession,” says CBPP in an updated report on the impending impact on able-bodied adults without dependents. The 1996 welfare reform law limits ABAWDs to three months of food stamps in a three-year period.
At latest count, 45.4 million people, or one in seven Americans, received food stamps, with an average benefit of $126.39 per person per month, said the USDA. Enrollment surged during the recession and peaked at 47.8 million in December 2012.