Recently, there has been a lot of press surrounding increases in hirings and gains in hourly wages, but this overlooks the millions of people that continue to struggle to make ends meet. For some of those individuals, the struggle to get basic necessities is about to get worse.

Over the course of 2015, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Americans will be at risk of losing necessary food assistance benefits, or "Food Stamps," through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that, until now, has helped put food on their tables. As unemployment rates fall, around 1 million single adults will become ineligible to receive SNAP benefits due to a three-month time limit for unemployed, able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). 

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 limits SNAP benefits to just three months in a three-year time period for ABAWDs who are not working or participating in a workfare program for at least 20 hours a week. The provision includes a clause that allows states with sustained high unemployment rates to apply for a 12-month ABAWD waiver that suspends the three-month limit. Because of the poor economic climate, in recent years, many states have received ABAWD waivers, eliminating the time limit for the ABAWD population. Current waivers will expire at the end of this fiscal year and will need to be renewed for FY2016. However, as unemployment rates fall, very few states will qualify for this waiver.

Although unemployment rates are declining, many ABAWDs are still struggling to find full-time employment due to lower education levels and limited job opportunities. While states can cut off SNAP benefits for unemployed ABAWDs after three months, according to the provisions in The Farm Bill of 2002, states are not required to fund employment and training programs for ABAWDs. In other words, states can remove unemployed ABAWDs from the SNAP rolls without making an effort to find them a position in a work or training program for 20 hours a week. In fact, most states do not offer these programs, meaning that the responsibility to search for a job or a work/training program falls on the individual, which can be very difficult as workfare programs have limited resources and openings.

Even those who are actively seeking work and are willing to accept any position offered will still be cut off from SNAP benefits and will not be provided with support to find employment. According to US Department of Agriculture, individuals who will be subject to the three-month time limit have an average monthly income of 19 percent of the poverty line (or 81% below the poverty line), making them one of the most vulnerable groups in the country.  Because this population is able-bodied and without dependents, it is unlikely for them to qualify for other benefits.

Not only do SNAP benefits put food on the tables of millions of hungry Americans, but food assistance has also stimulated the economy and served as a lifeline for entire towns.  For example, in Woonsocket, Rhode Island almost $2 million of SNAP funding pours into the town each month, stimulating the city’s food industry and starting the monthly “boom-and-bust” cycle of the nearly bankrupt town. For more information, see this article in the Washington Post.

To learn more about the relationship between poverty and food insecurity from Feeding America’s Poverty and Food Insecurity Fact Sheet click here. For statistics and infographics on food insecurity from the USDA Economic Research Service click here.

For more information about which state’s have accepted the waiver for FY2015, click here.

ThinkProgress has covered the reinstatement of the work requirements in SNAP in Maine, Ohio, Indiana, and New Mexico.