Policy
US food-stamp enrollment falls 13% after expanded work requirements
US participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program fell from 41.6 million people in July 2025 to 36.5 million in June 2026 after Trump administration restrictions took effect. Officials present the decline as evidence that more people are working, while anti-hunger groups say fewer benefits reflect barriers and rising hardship, not improved employment. The changes also threaten free school-meal eligibility and shift more administrative costs to states, which advocates warn could lengthen processing delays.
Editorial summary · Publisher article
What matters
- The new rules extend work requirements to more adults, including people up to age 64 without young dependents.
- The Congressional Budget Office projected about $187bn in savings over 10 years.
- Snap enrollment fell 50% in Arizona and 6% in Kentucky over the reported period.
- Michigan’s food-assistance helpline received more than three times its former daily call volume.
Context & caveats
- The USDA says enrollment changes cannot be attributed to one policy alone.
Why this made the edition
The article supplies official enrollment data, detailed policy changes, state-level effects, program consequences and responses from both advocates and the USDA.
Source material