SNAP benefit reductions increase food and financial hardship for families

A new study found that families experienced greater difficulty affording adequate food and household expenses after states began to lift emergency SNAP benefits that were provided to families at the start of the pandemic.

The US Congressional Budget Office estimates that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will cut $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over the next decade, sparking concerns among health experts about how this reduction in funding will affect food and economic security among the 47 million families who rely on this critical assistance.

As these changes begin to unfold, a new study builds upon a growing body of data that capture the detrimental consequences of reducing SNAP assistance. 

Published in the journal Preventive Medicine, the study explores food insufficiency and financial challenges among families after multiple states stopped providing emergency allotments of SNAP benefits provided during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. SNAP benefit reductions were associated with increased difficulty affording both food and household expenses among SNAP-participant families, particularly among those with children.

The risk of food insufficiency-a narrow measure that indicates that a household has not had enough food to eat within the past seven days-increased by five percentage points after several states ended their emergency allotments in 2021, compared to states that ended this assistance later. Similarly, the risk of difficulty affording household expenses increased by eight percentage points after the emergency allotments ended.

These findings demonstrate the vital role of SNAP, which is the largest food and nutrition assistance program in the country, and the research team hopes that these data can inform future policies and discussions around the adequacy of the SNAP benefit amount to support the health and well-being of families.

Our study found that states choosing to end the SNAP emergency allotments early created more pressure on family budgets, not just for affording food but also spillovers to difficulty affording other expenses. Households with children faced a greater increase in food insufficiency than those without, foreshadowing what we may expect with SNAP cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

Dr. Paul Shafer, study senior author, associate professor of health law, policy & management

For the study, Dr. Shafer and colleagues utilized data from the nationally representative Household Pulse Survey to measure and compare changes in the risk of food insufficiency and difficulty affording household expenses among 5,685 people living in four states that ended SNAP emergency allotments in 2021 (Florida, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota) and 10,773 people living in eight states that ended these allotments in 2022 (Iowa, Arizona, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Georgia, Alaska, South Carolina, and South Carolina). The expanded SNAP assistance ended nationwide when the federal government lifted the COVID-19 public health emergency in May 2023. 

Food insufficiency was assessed with questions about the type of food households consumed within the last seven days, as well as how often families had enough to eat. Difficulty affording expenses was determined based on whether households were able to pay for standard expenses such as rent or mortgage, car payments, and medical expenses. 

Beyond physical health and development, even brief disruptions in access to food can affect mental and emotional health, particularly among children, the researchers emphasize. 

"Participating in SNAP helps in ways that go beyond just food on the table," Dr. Shafer says. "Being food insecure is associated with higher rates of stress and depression. SNAP assistance supports the health of families and their housing, and helps avoid developmental risks in children."

In addition to funding cuts, the OBBB implements several changes to SNAP eligibility, including expanded work reporting requirements for older adults, parents of children over age 14, parents, veterans, and the unhoused, as well as significant shifting of benefit and administrative costs from the federal government to the states. 

How states choose to respond will be key, says Dr. Shafer.

"States could cut eligibility or opt out altogether, or have to cut other state programs to offset the cost," he says. More people being subject to work reporting requirements, including 55-64 year olds, veterans, and unhoused people, will yield an estimated 2.4 million Americans falling through the cracks. Furthermore, food pantries-which are already overburdened-won't be able to absorb the additional need, which means even more people will face food insecurity and hunger."

Tracking how these major changes to SNAP benefits and to the structure of the program affect families' health and their ability to make ends meet will be essential going forward, says study coauthor Dr. Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, research associate professor of health law, policy & management. 

"Tariffs, inflation, and growing unemployment are additional stressors on the purchasing power of SNAP that will be important to evaluate in real time," Dr. Ettinger de Cuba says. "Given what we already know from past changes to the program, I am concerned that SNAP will not be able to respond as it was designed-to grow during hard times and shrink in good times-ultimately increasing hardship for everyday people."