SNAP benefits' work rules may leave some rural residents struggling; waivers exist but not all governors can/do apply

Rural regions can have too many people and not enough jobs, so some residents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits may struggle to meet the newly reinstated federal work requirements. "Able-bodied adults without dependents must work 80 hours or more per month to continue receiving benefits through SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. The Trump administration suspended the requirement at the start of the pandemic, and the old requirements resumed in May," reports Sarah Melotte of The Daily Yonder. Rural areas "on average have fewer jobs, greater transportation needs, and less broadband access. . . . . Rural America still doesn't have as many jobs as it did before Covid-19."

There are no SNAP work requirements for "able-bodied people without dependents between the ages of 18 and 50" for the first 90 days, Melotte explains. After that, "people have to work at least 20 hours per week to continue receiving benefits. . . . But for the recipients who live in places with insufficient jobs, that's easier said than done. A 2022 survey of 25,000 American adults found that the most common reason people are unemployed is because of job availability. Twenty-eight percent of survey respondents said that there were no jobs that were good fits in terms of geography, wages, or hours of employment."

The Department of Labor maintains a list of Labor Surplus Areas, "or places where there are not enough jobs for the working age population," Melotte writes. "Researchers and federal agencies can use the list. . . to identify where federal funding should be emphasized. . . . . States can apply for waivers from the federal government to eliminate the SNAP time constraints in areas with insufficient employment. . . . [When] governors make the waiver requests, and they will often use the LSA list to justify the need. . . . The Food and Nutrition Service can then exempt those areas. That means people who live in LSAs can remain on SNAP for longer. . . regardless of whether they meet employment requirements." Some state laws prohibit waiver requests and governors are not required to ask for one. Ellen Vollinger, SNAP director at the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center, told Melotte, "Many states did a good job of using area waivers. But several states, mainly in the Southeast, chose not to use the area waivers."

For example, East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, "is a rural LSA in the Mississippi Delta. In 2021, 30% of households were receiving SNAP benefits, compared to only 14% of the total rural population, according to recent estimates. . . . Mississippi prohibits work requirements waivers based on job availability. Twenty-four percent of Mississippi households in a county with an LSA received SNAP benefits in 2021. Over 160,000 people live in an LSA in Mississippi, but if they are of working age and without dependents, they still have to meet work requirements to continue getting benefits." Vollinger told Melotte: "It's a really harsh and arbitrary provision."