#MONTHLY EXPENSES FOR A SINGLE PERSON UPDATE#

Individuals aged 18 or over and under 50 are limited to three months of SNAP benefits every three years unless they are working or in a work or training program at least 20 hours a week. Many adults without dependents need to meet additional requirements to remain eligible for SNAP (See box, “The Three-Month Time Limit.”) The Three-Month Time Limit Unemployed adults aged 18 to 49 who do not have children in the home and who do not have disabilities are limited to three months of SNAP benefits every three years in many areas of the country, and states have broad authority to extend work requirements to many other SNAP households. Who is not eligible? Some categories of people are not eligible for SNAP regardless of their income or assets, such as individuals who are on strike, all people without a documented immigration status, some students attending college more than half time, and certain immigrants who are lawfully present. States have the option to relax the asset limits, and most have done so. Items that are not accessible, such as the household’s home, personal property, and retirement savings, do not count. What counts as an asset? Generally, resources that could be available to the household to purchase food, such as amounts in bank accounts, count as assets. What counts as income? SNAP counts cash income from all sources, including earned income (before payroll taxes are deducted) and unearned income, such as cash assistance, Social Security, unemployment insurance, and child support. Assets must fall below certain limits: households without a member aged 60 or older or who has a disability must have assets of $2,750 or less, and households with such a member must have assets of $4,250 or less.Net income, or household income after deductions are applied, must be at or below the poverty line.The poverty level is higher for bigger families and lower for smaller families. Thus, 130 percent of the poverty line for a three-person family is $2,495 a month, or about $29,940 a year. For a family of three, the poverty line used to calculate SNAP benefits in federal fiscal year 2023 is $1,920 a month. Gross monthly income - that is, household income before any of the program’s deductions are applied - generally must be at or below 130 percent of the poverty line.Under federal rules, to be eligible for benefits a household’s income and resources must meet three tests: If they experienced a recent increase in certain expenses, or they think the state doesn’t know about these expenses: housing or child care costs, child support payments, or if someone in their household who is aged 60 or older or has a disability has monthly medical expenses of $35 or more.įind each state’s website and telephone numberįind a local food bank for immediate food help Determining Eligibility.

#MONTHLY EXPENSES FOR A SINGLE PERSON UPDATE#

Participants can also contact their state human services agency to update their information if one of the following applies, as it may increase their regular benefit: If they have questions about their regular benefit, they can contact their state human services agency.

SNAP enrollees will still receive their regular SNAP benefits after these extra benefits end.

Some states have already ended these extra benefits. (See box, “Several Major Factors Have Affected SNAP Benefits in Recent Years,” on page 6 for how these changes have affected SNAP.) If SNAP Participants Have Questions About Benefit Changesĭue to a change in federal law, the temporary extra SNAP benefits that states began issuing in the spring of 2020 due to COVID-19 are ending after February 2023. Separately, in 2021, USDA revised the Thrifty Food Plan, which raised SNAP benefit levels beginning in October 2021 and will continue to raise levels in future years.

These temporary measures, described below, will be ending this year due to recent legislation and the end of the federal public health emergency (PHE). Department of Agriculture (USDA) temporarily modified SNAP eligibility and benefits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper provides a short summary of SNAP eligibility and benefit calculation rules that are in effect for federal fiscal year 2023, which began in October 2022.Ĭongress and the U.S. The size of a family’s SNAP benefit is based on its income and certain expenses. Most families and individuals who meet the program’s income guidelines are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program).

Monthly expenses for a single person