SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and it is still known as the Food Stamps program. Millions of Americans have received money from this program and many are thinking about applying because they cannot make ends meet.
As inflation grows, the United States Department of Agriculture through the Food and Nutrition Service increases SNAP benefits annually. Sometimes they cannot increase them and they have to reduce them.
For example, SNAP recipients in Hawaii got a reduction on October 1, 2023. While the rest of the beneficiaries got more money, they started collecting lower payments. So, you should not take increases for granted.
HOW WILL FOOD STAMPS CHANGE IN 2024?
There will be at least two major changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the USA. On the one hand, you will have to be careful if you are 53 or 54 years old in 2024, because these changes may affect you directly.
On the other hand, there will be another cost of living adjustment on October 1, 2024. Of course, it is not certain if SNAP benefits will increase, decrease, or remain the same in 2024. What is a fact is that Food Stamp beneficiaries will receive a COLA boost worth 3.2% from October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024.
Remember that not all States or U.S. territories collect the same SNAP amounts. As inflation is not the same everywhere, the maximum amounts an individual or a family can receive will be different.
The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia share the same amounts. However, if you live in Alaska, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Hawaii the SNAP amounts will be higher than in the rest of the States.
HOW MUCH CAN I GET WITH THE NEW SNAP COLA BOOST IN 2024?
While Social Security beneficiaries can only get the COLA boost from December 29 onward, SNAP beneficiaries have been receiving it from October 1st, 2023. Therefore, if you are receiving your first Food Stamps in December you can get the 2024 COLA increase.
This increase means getting up to $10 extra per month if you are a single person on Food Stamps. Benefits changed from $281 to $291 (maximum amount for a single person). A family of four can get up to $973 in 2024, up from $939 till September 2023.
Going back to Americans on Food Stamps aged 53-54, they will have to meet new work requirements like those aged 18-52 who can work and have no children do now. This is the Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents time limit. Not meeting the requirements will mean getting benefits for just 3 months in 3 years.
It will make you work for 80 hours per month if you are on SNAP and are an ABAWD. The new ages will be from 18-54 on October 1, 2024. The same date as when you may get the new amounts. There are exemptions for this time limit if you are a veteran, have a disability, are pregnant or have been in foster care recently.
