Nearly 700,000 people are expected to be impacted by the new changes to SNAP, a federal program which offers low-income individuals financial assistance for the purchase of food.
The Trump administration is hoping to save money and transition people from welfare to work by changing the work requirements for certain recipients. The previous rules required able-bodied adults without dependents to work 20-hours per week or be in a training program. Without meeting that criteria they could only receive three months of SNAP benefits in three years, however, the time limit could be waived in areas with high unemployment or insufficient jobs.
The new federal rule makes it tougher for states to waive the time limit, requiring an unemployment rate at 6% or higher for a waiver. Lindsey Haynes-Maslow is a professor and extension specialist in the department of agricultural and human sciences at North Carolina State University. She joins host Frank Stasio to discuss changes to the law and share the reality of how work requirements for SNAP affect recipients in rural North Carolina.