Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter
Anthony Bonner is facing looming uncertainty. A single dad living in Memphis, Tennessee, he fears he may soon no longer qualify for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—aid that can be used like cash to purchase groceries.
Until now, Bonner has been able to receive SNAP aid for himself and his son regardless of whether he was working. New regulations, part of Donald Trump’s H.R. 1, are about to change that.
Under the new rules, parents with minor children between the ages of 14 and 17 must work or volunteer at least 20 hours per week to receive SNAP. Bonner’s son, Braylon, turns 14 in late February. The typical 13-year-old boy, who plays the trumpet and enjoys basketball and Roblox, may soon be the only one in his two-person household to qualify for food aid.
As a self-employed barber, Bonner’s hours fluctuate, leaving him unsure whether he’ll meet the 20-hour-a-week minimum. It’s a struggle acutely felt by single parents who are the sole earners in their household.
“Nobody should be worried about where the next meal is coming from,” said Bonner, who is already anticipating changes to how he shops and how his family eats. “I might have to really figure out how to stretch it,” he added, referring to the limited funds he said he’ll have for groceries.
With the new rules in place, around 2.4 million Americans could lose assistance within the next few years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
The new requirements fail to factor in people who don’t work in fields with consistent hours, said Ed Bolen of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute. “It can be a pretty harsh rule for people who work in jobs that don’t always have nice, solid, consistent 20 hours a week,” he said.
Leighton Ku, the director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University, told Prism, “There’s this sort of presumption that people who are getting SNAP benefits are undeserving people, and that the way you show that you are deserving is that you work.”
It’s a perception familiar to Bonner.
“I get the sentiment that if you don’t work, you don’t eat. But our bodies need food. Our bodies need water, that’s a necessity,” he said. “Whether a person works or not, people should be able to eat. Families should be able to eat.”
In light of the new SNAP changes, Bonner recently took on a second job to boost his hours. As a community organizer for the nonprofit Memphis for All, he’s employed through a three-month pilot program. If his contract ends in March, he will likely no longer meet the SNAP work requirements.
Failure to meet new requirements for any three months in a three-year period will result in a loss of benefits for able-bodied adults without dependents under the age of 14.
About 1 in 8, or 41.7 million, Americans rely on SNAP, according to the latest figures from Pew Research Center.
“You’re taking the people who not only, in many cases, have the fewest skills and the most difficulty getting jobs, but who are probably the most reliant on food assistance, and you’re saying specifically you can’t get it,” Ku said.
A 2024 study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that among workers participating in SNAP, most have jobs with low wages. The study noted that low-paying jobs often have scheduling practices that contribute to workers’ unstable incomes.
Lauren Bauer, a fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization, said the documentation needed in order to prove the required work hours will also be a challenge for some. “There’s a leap between being in compliance with this policy and proving that you are,” Bauer said.
Bauer and Ku said that the SNAP program has long faced bureaucratic hurdles, with excessive paperwork and documentation often preventing people from accessing benefits even when they qualify.
Da’jion Lymore, a single father of a 6-year-old, knows this firsthand. After moving from Missouri to Georgia, he was forced to restart his SNAP application. As a self-employed multimedia specialist, verifying his income has been a challenge. Now, he’s stuck in limbo without any SNAP benefits, even though he technically qualifies.
As he waits for his benefits to come through, Lymore works hard to stretch every ingredient for his son.
“I make sure I use everything,” he said, “making sure he gets everything he needs, making sure he’s full with every meal. He’s a growing boy; some days it’s definitely surprising how much he eats.”
Bonner had a message for lawmakers who voted to restrict benefits.
“Look at your constituents. Really look at us. Stop looking at the numbers, look at the people,” he said. “The policy that you’re making is really hurting us.”
Proponents of tighter work requirements for SNAP deny accusations of cruelty.
“To me, work is not a punishment,” said Angela Rachidi of the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. “It’s sort of an expectation that we all have for ourselves and should have for the rest of society, if you’re able-bodied and don’t have caregiving responsibilities.”
But a study from the Economic Policy Institute found that for low-income adults, the main barriers to work are economic conditions outside of their control, and that work requirements in the past have failed to boost work in significant ways.
“They have other barriers, like child care needs, and other problems in their lives that make it difficult to find work,” Ku said.
That argument doesn’t persuade Rachidi. “You could argue if high school-age kids even need caregiving,” she said of the broadened work requirement for parents with children over the age of 14.
Bonner is astonished by that assertion. “It’s ridiculous to expect a child to be able to suffice by themselves,” he said. “If I left [my son] alone and said go ahead, go fend for yourself, he’s not gonna make it. No 14-year-old kid is prepared.”
Rachidi predicted that tighter work requirements could expand to other safety net programs, such as housing assistance.
Bonner, meanwhile, tries to talk to his son about how to best prepare for the uncertainty that lies ahead. “You may have to reach out and extend help to others,” he tells Braylon, knowing that people in his community may be facing similar uncertainties. In Georgia, Lymore said his neighbors have come together through Facebook groups to organize a market stand where people can leave food for each other, such as fresh eggs, produce, and bread. “The community definitely helps each other out in this time of need,” he said, filling the gaps the government no longer meets.
Did you use this article in your work?
We’d love to hear how The 74’s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers. Tell us how
