New Work Requirements For SNAP In New Jersey: What To Know

New federal work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients began this week for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents.

On Monday, sweeping changes to the nation’s largest food aid program took effect under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed in July.

Many SNAP recipients were already required to show that they work, volunteer or attend job training at least 80 hours per month to qualify for benefits. The new law expands the work requirement to people between 18 and 64-years-old, and parents of children ages 14 through 17.

The new rules eliminate exemptions for military veterans, people experiencing homelessness and young adults aging out of foster care. The law also makes it more difficult for individual states to bypass federal work requirements.

The Congressional Budget Office says the new requirements are expected to cut the monthly number of SNAP recipients by nearly 2.4 million over the next 10 years.

More than 800,000 New Jersey residents rely on SNAP to meet their basic nutritional needs, according to the Department of Human Services. Nearly half are children, one in three are people with a disability, and one in five are over 60-years-old.

Monthly benefits from the program, formerly known as “food stamps,” average around $190 per person. Recipients can use the funds to buy a wide range of grocery items. SNAP benefits can’t be used to purchase alcohol, tobacco or “nonfood” items like pet food or cleaning supplies.

The Trump administration has claimed that SNAP has grown out of control, alleging that overreliance on the program and widespread fraud have forced elected officials to take action.

Some Republicans in Congress – including U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey – have supported the changes to SNAP work requirements made under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

“I think there’s a great deal of hyperbole about what the ‘workfare’ requirements will do,” Smith said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.

“Women, small children, disabled persons, they will not lose anything,” he said.

Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told the New Jersey Monitor that although a work requirement for SNAP recipients has been in place since 1996, the rules have “never really been enforced.”

Rector said “able-bodied” people who have been exempt from the work requirement – such as veterans and homeless people – create an unnecessary burden on the system.

Some advocates have questioned these claims, however.

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey called the Trump administration’s cuts to SNAP “devastating,” saying that they were “intentionally designed to put up red tape and barriers to accessing critical support.”

The nonprofit has pointed to the case of “Laurie,” a woman in her early 60s who is worried about losing her benefits under the new work requirements. After working in the food industry for decades, she has now retired – but struggles to put food on the table despite $200 a month in SNAP benefits.

“SNAP has been a lifesaver,” she said. “If I didn’t have it, it would be tough.”

Most SNAP participants who can work already do so, or are temporarily between jobs, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports.

“With the risk of a recession rising and the Trump administration’s tariff policies likely to increase the cost of groceries and other essentials, SNAP’s role in supporting people who are temporarily out of work or don’t earn enough to afford basic needs is especially critical,” the nonprofit research group argues.

“Taking food away from more people who don’t meet a harsh, red tape-laden work requirement or are unable to prove they qualify for an exemption would worsen food insecurity and hardship while undermining SNAP’s vital role as an economic stimulus,” the group said.

• See Related: Here's What NJ Voters Think Of The 'Big, Beautiful Bill,' Poll Says

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