Episode description
Policy analysts estimate that between 500,000 and 1 million Americans will lose eligibility for participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamps Program, over the course of 2016. The prompt change in coverage for 2016 is due to federal implementation of a 1996 welfare law which limits childless, non-disabled Americans to three months of SNAP benefits within a 36 month period while unemployed. Food insecurity in the United States is a widespread problem, with over 15% of Americans (totaling 48 million people) in 2014 insecure at some point during the year. The January 2016 cut in SNAP benefits will surely have a detrimental effect on national rates of food security, and will deprive many Americans of nutritional assistance which they will not be able to afford were it not for SNAP.