Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits get biggest hike ever; rural families are more likely to be on it

"The Biden administration has revised the nutrition standards of the food-stamp program and prompted the largest permanent increase to benefits in the program’s history, a move that will give poor people more power to fill their grocery carts but add billions of dollars to the cost of a program that feeds one in eight Americans," Jason DeParle reports for The New York Times.

What most people call food stamps is now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Under rules announced today, which will take effectin October, "average benefits will rise more than 25 percent from pre-pandemic levels," DeParle reports. "All 42 million people in the program will receive additional aid. The move does not require congressional approval, and unlike the large pandemic-era expansions, which are starting to expire, the changes are intended to last."

Rural households are disproportionately likely to be SNAP recipients.

Before the pandemic, the average SNAP recipient received $121. Under the new rules, that will increase by $36. "Although the increase may seem modest to middle-class families, proponents say it will reduce hunger, improve nutrition and lead to better health," DeParle reports.

Critics have said for years that SNAP benefits are inadequate. Even after a recent 15% increase during the pandemic, the maximum SNAP benefit can't cover food expenses in over 40% of U.S. counties. But opponents say recipients should better budget the aid they already have, citing research showing that nearly 10% of SNAP benefits are spent on sweetened drinks, DeParle reports. Critics of the increase also say the roughly $20 billion in increased annual spending from pre-pandemic levels is unsustainable, that more money makes the poor less willing to work, and that SNAP isn't meant to cover all food expenses. However, about 40% of SNAP recipients have no net income, according to a new Urban Institute report.