Screening Out the Needy: the Effects of SNAP Work Requirements

Lexin Cai, Hyewon Kim and Pauline Leung

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: We examine the effectiveness of work requirements as a screening device in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Work requirements for “able-bodied adults without dependents” were suspended after the Great Recession and gradually reinstated across counties and states in the 2010s. Using linked administrative SNAP and employment data from five states and a triple-differences design, we find that work requirements reduce SNAP participation by seven percent without increasing labor supply and disproportionately screen out low-income individuals. We develop a welfare framework to interpret these results and find that the social costs of work requirements exceed budget savings.

Keywords: SNAP; Work Requirements; Labor Supply; Targeting; Welfare Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H53 I38 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2026/adrm/ces/CES-WP-26-46.pdf First version, 2026 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-46

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