Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Benefits Cliff Undermines Gains for Working Families

A “benefits cliff” occurs when a modest increase in household income triggers a reduction or loss of SNAP assistance that exceeds the extra earnings. The Department of Health and Human Services defines the cliff as a situation where the benefit cut equals or surpasses the income gain. Alicia Freemont, a 29-year-old single mother in Nebraska, illustrates the problem: after earning just $19 above the SNAP eligibility limit in early 2024, she lost $150 per month in benefits, forcing her to work up to 18 hours in a day and later rely on credit cards after a car accident and subsequent injuries.

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• SNAP serves more than 35 million people nationwide.

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• A 2019 Health Affairs study linked benefit loss after earnings rises to higher odds of household and child food insecurity.

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• A 2021 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study reported former recipients who lost SNAP within the prior year had more than twice the odds of severe food insecurity and 80 % higher odds of low food security among children.

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• A 2024 HHS survey of 1,804 current and former benefit recipients found that anticipated benefit loss reduced willingness to accept higher-paying jobs; smaller losses and larger net gains increased willingness.

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• A 2025 Washington University survey showed over one-in-five workers on public benefits turned down extra hours or promotions to avoid a cliff.

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• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes SNAP benefits decline by roughly 24–36 cents for each additional dollar earned.

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SNAP benefits taper as income rises, with a 20 % deduction for earned income. The federal gross-income test caps eligibility at 130 % of the federal poverty level, but states may adopt Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE) to raise the ceiling. Nebraska, where Freemont lives, uses BBCE to set the threshold at 165 % of the poverty level, allowing an estimated 8,000 Nebraskans—including about 7,000 children—to remain on SNAP in 2023, though the ultimate eligibility line remains.

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Stephen Grimaldi, executive director of New York Common Pantry, emphasizes that crossing an eligibility line does not automatically improve a family’s financial situation. Stephanie Gonzalez Guittar, associate professor of sociology at Rollins College, notes that small income gains often fail to alter quality of life given current living costs.

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• “Small income increases may not be substantial enough to change one’s quality of life based on current costs of living,” — Gonzalez Guittar

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• “The important thing to recognize is that eligibility thresholds are an administrative way of drawing a line, but people's financial circumstances don't change substantially or meaningfully when they cross that line.” — Stephen Grimaldi, executive director of New York Common Pantry

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• “At first it was devastating. Even now, it’s still kind of devastating,” — News Alicia

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