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Putting food on the table will be a lot harder for millions of Americans starting in March.
Food stamp recipients will each receive about $90 a month less in benefits, on average, as a pandemic hunger relief program comes to an end nationwide three years after Congress approved it.
Every household in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as food stamps are formally known, will see their monthly benefits shrink by at least $95. Some larger families could experience monthly reductions of $250 or more, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
“It’s something that people are going to notice,” said Dottie Rosenbaum, director of federal SNAP policy at the center. “It’s $3 billion a month that’s going to food that’s not going to be there anymore.”
This is leading food banks and pantries, already stretched thin by increased demand due to the surge in grocery prices, to brace for a new spike in need.
Congress voted to end the pandemic emergency allotments after the February issuance as part of the government funding package that passed late last year. The legislation also created a permanent summer benefits program to provide funds to the families of some 30 million children to buy groceries in place of school meals during the break.
The cut in food stamps will be felt in the 32 states and the District of Columbia that were still providing the emergency allotments, which increased monthly benefits to the maximum for the household’s size or at least $95 a month. Some 18 states already ended the pandemic benefits.
More than 42 million Americans received food stamps as of November, according to the latest federal data. Without the pandemic boost, the average food stamp benefit will come to about $6 per person per day in 2023, instead of about $9, according to the center.
Food stamp recipients in states that already terminated the program are feeling the pinch, said Stacy Taylor, head of policy and partnerships at Propel, a software company that provides an app to check SNAP benefit balances.
