With the end of the pandemic food stamp program (SNAP) boost, many single and dual person households are now only getting a measly $23 in monthly benefits!
This benefit cut mainly affects seniors and veterans who tend to have smaller household sizes.
According to the National council on aging (NCOA) the minimum monthly SNAP benefit will remain at $23 for most one- or two-person households after SNAP emergency allotments (EA) expire. This is despite the rapid rise in inflation over the last year.
This ridiculous minimum SNAP benefit amount has generated some rough comments on this site, some of which I have summarized below. There are now even more comments at the end of this article.
Try $23 a month!!! With the prices of food nowadays we seniors will be starving! This is when we should be living our best lives but we can’t. This new Congress is just as bad as the old one! Why is it they always want to cut Social Security and Medicare, when they don’t have to worry they’ll get paid regardless.
Ms Shay
I signed up for SNAP benefits and got $16 for one month and then the pandemic benefit kicked in, I’ve been getting the max which was $251. Now, the pandemic benefit is gone and I will get $23. How does this make sense. One day I’m allowed $8.33 per day for food and the next day I’m only getting $0.76.
Linda
The end of the pandemic SNAP boost will mean a cut of at least $95 (the minimum increase) for many households, but when you factor in the record COLA increase for senior citizens this year social security benefits (income) then the SNAP benefit cut could be over $250 for some senior households.
I myself am disabled, can not drive, have to depend on others to purchase my supplies, and take me to appointments.
I am also now getting $23 a month from food stamps. I know of no where in this country where someone can live on $23 a month.
I am eating something small for breakfast, no lunch, and something small for dinner. No treats, no eggs, no extras. If covid becomes crazy again, I will literally starve. I hope someone in charge is paying attention, your senior citizens need HELP!
Brenda
As a point of reference, $23 a month can barely buy you 4 regular coffee at Starbucks, 2 chipotle meals and maybe a few meals at McDonalds or Taco Bell. It is well below federal poverty guidelines (FPL).
Even if you shop for basic groceries and foods at Amazon and Walmart, it will only get you by for a week at most.
So its not surprising the anger the $23 minimum SNAP benefit is generating among seniors and those impacted who rely on these government benefits programs to make ends meet.
I’ve had two heart attacks in the last eighteen months and am working for $8 an hour because I can’t go over that and keep my Medicaid which i need desperately…My snap benefits are dropping from $281 a month to $23!! How do they expect someone to live on that???? They did not cut Their Pay!!!
Dovie
Ultimately most people won’t be able to rely on SNAP benefits and will have to turn to various other state and federal benefit programs.
It will get even more challenging to pay for health related and basic housing/living costs, as pandemic support is further withdrawn for related programs.
Fortunately some states, like New Jersey, are implementing minimum monthly SNAP benefits ($95) and it is likely other states will follow suit.
This issue has also turned political, but like Patty said in her comment, this is a bipartisan failure!
This is not a Biden or Dems issue…he was responsible for the extensions on pandemic benefits under Covid Stimulus packages. He also extended the eviction moratorium as long as possible to keep people from being evicted and halt rent increases on low income individuals. But those programs expire in March and were voted that way by the new House of Representatives (McCarthyites).
You think democrats would eliminate social programs that help the underprivileged you are sadly mistaken…McCarthy and his cronies reversed the spending bill as their first order of business and now they are coming for your Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid. Get $23 a month from SNAP starting March 2023 and on disability for congestive heart failure.
My dad is a veteran. Barely, barely gets by on what he has. I tell him to apply for benefits and they give him $23. $23? Someone should be ashamed of themselves. I’m ashamed. I’m ashamed of my country, I’m ashamed of my government. Who? Who ever came up with that number NEVER had to fight, scrape, skimp, bleed or sweat a day in their lives. So you know no matter how you cut it, people are hungry tonight. Shame.
Hungry American
What are your thoughts or your experience?
Please help us, the lowest amount of food stamps for one person should be at least $100 a month, not $23 a month.
Please help us. All we want to do is to afford to eat.
I’m scared.
I work my whole life 16 years old and ever stop. Now 60 with Lumbar Spondylitis I can’t lift ,walk right ,sit .Because of all my hard jobs. And I get treated like dirty. Have to wait months to see if you get SSDI. And Now only 23 in snap. Something needs to be done. We are the ones who did work ,raise are family. Had homes .A New Law has to be made for the senior. Everyone in office are 70 , if now older. Take away all there benefits ,lets see if they can make it. WE are the ones who make people rich .Singer, actors. Lets just stop. Buying and watching them. We should strike. Someone out there help. Its like we live in a poor county. WE been paying for years into Social Security. Then you make our health Insurance high Shame on all of you.
I feel you’re pain Linda,like you I worked many years over half my lifetime until health issues led to my retirement.you see now that these politicians don’t give a crap about us and the 23$ snap benefit is the ultimate insult.I honestly believe believe this will lead to desperation and crime will rise!
I have been on wait list for senior housing for six yrs. Majority of my ck goes to rent, utilities… I don’t even have Medicare part B becuz i can’t afford it. Get too much for slimby/quimby assistance. We have millions for Ukraine, illegals, military , and israel, but 23. for seniors/vets. Amerikkka should hanging its head in shame. Disabled, no car, no way to get to food banks, much less stand in line. My only saving grace, i was getting 112. before, and that’s how i spent pandemic stamps, so i have good amt of stamps saved. I tried to warn friends not to be frivolous, cuz this day was coming.
Add to that, grocers got use to billions in extra dollars, so am sure they will raise prices even higher to gouge us. America, i hardly know ye.
$23 a month for a senior or disabled person is absolutely ridiculous !! Let’s put the other foot in the grave as we eat cheap hot dogs, rice and beans Really USA ??? So there are food banks and Meals on Wheels. Much of food at food banks is expired or produce going bad! Many seniors and disabled do not drive. And they don’t deliver. Meals on Wheels is just terrible. My dog and my cat turns their nose up to it. Perhaps our government leaders can have a Meals on Wheels luncheon and give feedback on taste $23 minimum is an insult to our seniors, disabled and veterans!!
I so agree with Sherri. The politicians should live on what they giving us. We are going without to line there pockets and for the to live high on the hog.
Remember in 2020 when Pelois did that interview on CBS? Showing off her dual $23k freezers filled with $13+ a pint ice creams?
People keep voting for that.
Kentucky lawmakers had voted to end the state’s health emergency last spring, by default cutting food stamp benefits created to help vulnerable Americans weather the worst of covid-19. Instead of $200 a month, many would get just $30.
The goverment don’t care about Americans! They act like we didn’t EARN our social security. This is not a hand out!
Seniors and veterans are going hungry while the idiots keep sending money to Ukraine! They don’t get to have our tax money!
The goverment spends it on illegals also! They don’t deserve our money either! Spend that money on AMERICANS THEY ARE GOING HUNGRY and homeless!
I don’t know how I’m going to survive without my extra food stamps. I’m 60 years old and disabled. I know the extra food stamps was supposed to only last during the pandemic. The problem is the price of food is so high right now I can’t afford to buy eggs milk etc…. I live in Pennsylvania does anyone know of any type of programs I can apply for to get help with food.
No other civilzed Western style government treats their seniors and lower income citizens as poorly as the USA. As a Social Security recipient I did get a decent increase for 2023, however, due to that, my SNAP benefits have dropped far more then the increase I recieve monthly. What will 23 dollars buy in this inflated market. Writing to our congress person only results in a generic response so it’s almost fruitless, no pun intended, to reach out to our elected officials. I am thankful for Social Security and Medicare. Sadly there are members of Congress that feel it should not exist.
That “increase” in social security was due to inflation, not because they decided to give you more. If members of congress do not respond well to you, then you need to get others to vote for someone else instead of just blindly voting for the same person over, and over.
I was receiving $29 a month in snap benefits and after the first of the year when we received a raise on our SSI I now receive $23 ..!!!..it’s freaking ridiculous how seniors..and veterans are treated In this country..!!..I would happily work again if I were physically able but after working blue collar factory jobs for so many years my body can’t do it anymore..I have never in my entire life ever had to worry about food and paying bills until this point in my life and this country doesn’t care about us older Americans..if we could leave and return as immigrants we could start our own businesses and have it made..!!..they don’t realize the struggle we go through just to get a meal and survive..!!
What happened to that $200 a month boost for Social Security Democrats promised in 2022? Remember that next election.