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Food stamp recipients will see monthly payments increase in October of 2021 due to a significant update to the program, even if the pandemic boost has expired.
On average, SNAP benefits will increase 27 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels, the largest in its history. This change occurred because of the new Thrifty Food Plan, which determines the benefit amount for food stamp users.
The reform of the food stamp program comes a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirement under the Farm Bill in 2018. The former Republican-led Congress ordered the agency to double-check the plan by fiscal 2022 and every five years thereafter. It has been 15 years since it was last adjusted.
Beneficiaries will see a $36 hike in average monthly benefits, which is permanent under the revision addition. Food stamp users receive $121 per person before the coronavirus pandemic.
The monthly benefit average will increase to $169 per person, according to the agency. This is based on the food price inflation and kicks in Every October, including the annual price of living adjustments.
However, SNAP participants will receive more than that because Congress’s pandemic relief programs remain in most states, even if the 15 percent boost ended on September 30th. Lawmakers also recruited enrollees monthly food stamp allotment to the maximum supply for their families during the pandemic. President Joe Biden extended this move earlier in the year to 25 million more citizens enrolling into the program in low-income homes who originally did not get the benefits.
In the United States, the average meal cost is $2.41, which is 22 percent more than the maximum food stamp benefits. The maximum benefit did not cover the cost of a decently priced meal in 96 percent of the U.S. counties. The revision will estimate the figure to an estimated decrease of 21 percent of counties.
“We haven’t revisited the underlying assumptions since the ’70s, which is a little bit horrifying given how different the way we eat, the price of foods, how families acquire and prepare foods,” states Elaine Waxman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. ” All those things have changed so Dramatically, So this is overdue.”
Written by Daylontie Jasper
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Source:
ABC 7: Food stamp increase: October SNAP benefits to jumping thanks to USDA Thrifty Food Plan; by Tami Luhby
Feature Image courtesy of deidreselene’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of graceishere’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License