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The
deal targets recipients of the Supplementary Nutrition Program,
or SNAP, between the ages of 50 and 54, adding new requirements
that they work 20 hours a week to receive the aid.
Previously, work requirements to receive SNAP ended at age 50.
After weeks of negotiations, McCarthy and Biden forged a
tentative agreement late on Saturday. The deal needs to still
pass through the narrowly divided Congress before the Treasury
Department runs short of money to cover all its obligations.
People who have dependents, including children under age 18 or
elderly people who rely on them, or people with disabilities,
are already exempt from these work requirements, and will remain
so. The deal also exempts veterans and homeless people.
"The agreement phases in and then sunsets SNAP time limits to
people up to age 54, which the president fought hard against,"
one source briefed on the negotiations said.
Republicans argue that the work requirements encourage people to
get back to work.
The U.S.'s approximately 65 million members of Gen X, those born
between 1965 and 1980, are sandwiched between Baby Boomers, the
generation born after World War II, and millennials.
As a group, they saw their wealth jump during the Trump
administration and even during the COVID pandemic.
However, hundreds of thousands of GenXers living below or near
the poverty line are likely to be impacted by the new work
requirements.
SNAP benefits are available for Americans whose income is less
than 130% of the federal poverty line, or about $1,500 a month
for a one person household, or $2,000 for a two-person household
in many areas.
Before temporary increases during the COVID pandemic that have
since been reversed, these benefits averaged about $121 per
person per month, or about $4.00 per person per day, the Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities found.
(Reporting by Heather Timmons; editing by Diane Craft)
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