Who Receives SNAP Benefits?

As the U.S. government shutdown dragged on, recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program did not collect funds to purchase groceries at the start of November. Since the end of last week, the Trump administration has been embroiled in a back-and-forth with courts around the benefits, with deadlines for full and partial payments set and rescinded and even a call by the government to take back payments already made. However, as some Democrats in Congress broke rank and voted with Republicans on a limited compromise between both sides, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history could be coming to an end soon. The current deal could potentially fund the government through January 30.

Meanwhile, a week without grocery money has left those affected scrambling, including many working families, single mothers and disabled as well as elderly Americans from all over the country. Almost 4 in 10 SNAP recipients in the fiscal year of 2023 were children, data from the USDA shows, as families, especially single-adult families, struggle with finances more often. Additionally, around 2 in 10 recipients were over the age of 60, and 1 in 10 was a child or non-elderly adult with a disability. One-third of SNAP recipients were non-disabled adults between the ages of 18 and 59. However, on a household level, only 16.9 percent of households receiving SNAP contained only adults under the age of 50.

In 2023, 27.3 percent of households receiving SNAP had an earned income. Able-bodied adults up to 54 years of age without dependents fall under a work requirement if they want to receive more than three months of payments in three years. The share of households that had an income from work rose to 54.9 percent among households with children, once more highlighting the plight of many working parents to make ends meet. Among married-couple families, this rate rises to more than 80 percent.

More than 60 percent of SNAP-receiving household also received a form of cash benefit like Social Security payments or Supplemental Security Income, while 20 percent received no earned income or cash benefits. African-Americans are overrepresented among recipients at 25.7 percent (compared to around 14 percent of the population), while Latinos are underrepresented (15.6 percent of SNAP recipients compared to 19.5 percent of the population).