\n<\/p>\n
P<\/span>overty and hunger will rise as a result of the Trump administration\u2019s unprecedented cuts to the US federal \u201cfood stamps\u201d program, according to experts. Low-income workers who rely on the aid are braced for dire consequences.<\/p>\n Katie Giede, a single mother and waitress in Conyers, Georgia, is one of the 42 million Americans who use the supplemental nutrition assistance program (Snap). Even with the maximum benefit permitted, she struggles to afford food for her and her child.<\/p>\n She makes $3 an hour plus tips at the fast-food chain Waffle House, where she has worked for 11 years. The company deducts meals from workers\u2019 pay check per shift, regardless of whether they eat one or not.<\/p>\n \u201cOur pay is already so little that we\u2019re struggling with everything,\u201d Giede told the Guardian. \u201cSingle mothers like myself are reliant upon the benefits like Snap and Medicaid. So when you go and you cut that as well, now you have mothers out here that are not only worried at night because they already can\u2019t afford housing or a vehicle, but we\u2019re also worried what is our kid is going to eat? Because we no longer have help.\u201d<\/p>\n Giede said she received $450 a month for her and her child. She said working too many hours or receiving too much income <\/strong>was a constant concern, <\/strong>due to eligibility cut-offs.<\/p>\n According to an analysis by the Urban Institute, at the end of 2024, even the maximum Snap benefit would not cover the cost of a modestly priced meal in 99% of all counties in the US.<\/p>\n \u201cI dread that trip to the grocery store every week, because you have to sit down and you really have to budget,\u201d said Giede. \u201cEvery time you go, you\u2019re having to make the choice between something that\u2019s healthy or something that\u2019s cheaper, just so you can get enough to last all week.<\/p>\n <\/span>Katie Giede, Waffle House worker, in Atlanta.<\/span> Photograph: Courtesy of USSW<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many people in this country that rely on these benefits, and with these cuts, half of the people that are surviving right now off of this are going to lose their benefits. That\u2019s not even just people not eating a little bit. They\u2019re already not eating enough, so we\u2019re going to lose lives over this. It\u2019s those of us at the bottom that are really feeling it.\u201d<\/p>\n Waffle House did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n T<\/span>rump\u2019s \u201cbig, beautiful bill\u201d set the stage for significant cuts to Snap by shifting higher administrative costs to each state, expanding work reporting requirements and imposing restrictions on non-citizen eligibility.<\/p>\n Many lower-wage workers have grown more reliant on Snap in recent years. US food prices rose by 23.6% between 2020 and 2024, according to official data. While inflation has since moderated, grocery costs remain high.<\/p>\n As a result of the latest Snap changes, <\/strong>states will be responsible for 75% of administrative costs of handling the program from 2027, up from 50% cost-sharing with the federal government, which is likely to strain state budgets.<\/p>\n From 2028, for the first time states will be forced to pick up some of the multibillion-dollar bill for Snap benefits. The state of New York, for example, faces a budget impact of about $1.2bn, according to the Food Research and Action Center (Frac), a non-profit advocacy group.<\/p>\n While such shifting costs have raised fears that states will cut back Snap support, <\/strong>expanded work requirements have sparked concern that few people will be eligible. Analysis by the Urban Institute found about 22.3 million US families are set to lose some or all of their Snap benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very targeted, well-thought–<\/strong>out plan of dismantling the Snap program that federal policy makers won\u2019t take responsibility for, because it is the states, it is the governors who will have to cut resources for Snap, who will have to cut the program in order to say we can\u2019t operate this because of what\u2019s happening at the federal level,\u201d <\/strong>said Gina Plata-Nino, Snap deputy director at the Frac.<\/p>\n \u201cSnap is a very important ecosystem at the local level, at the state level and the federal level, because billions of dollars go into states, and this federal money supports local economies,\u201d she added. \u201cAll of these proposals threaten this very delicate balance.\u201d<\/p>\n The White House deferred comment to the office of management and budget, which did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n States across the US are braced for stark consequences. <\/strong>\u201cWe\u2019re going to have worse hunger and ultimately, worse poverty,\u201d said Seth DiStefano, policy outreach director at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. \u201cThere are entire regions of West Virginia where there aren\u2019t 20 hours a week [expanded Snap work requirement] of anything to apply for. What do you tell those families?<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>We\u2019re talking families with kids now that are going to be subjected to these harsh work reporting requirements. We\u2019re talking folks in their 60s, literally in communities where there are no jobs, none, and ripping away the one outlet to their basic needs that\u2019s available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the employers with the most workers reliant on Snap is Walmart, the largest private employer in the US, as much of its workforce receives only part-time hours.<\/p>\n Christina Gahagan, 66, has worked at Walmart for a decade <\/strong> in western New York at several stores. She is currently based at a store in Geneseo, New York.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say at least 50% of the people in my store rely on food stamps to make ends meet for their families,\u201d said Gahagan. \u201cThey\u2019re always trying to figure out where the best deals are, coupon clipping at lunch and reading circulars to see who\u2019s got the best deal on whatever, just to make their money stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n She has cut down on costly grocery items, eating cheaper junk food to get by.<\/p>\n \u201cI was paying $9 a pound for roast beef. Today it\u2019s almost $13 a pound. So I\u2019m not buying full pounds any more. I\u2019m just buying a half a pound and making it work and just eating crap in between, like buying myself some chips out of the vending machine or something,\u201d Gahagan said.<\/p>\n \u201cWalmart is the largest employer in the US. We rival Amazon almost dollar for dollar in what we do. You would think a company like that could shell out a little bit more money per hour for associates in the store across the board, so that there aren\u2019t people who are having to depend so heavily on public assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n Walmart did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Poverty and hunger will rise as a result of the Trump administration\u2019s unprecedented cuts to the US federal \u201cfood stamps\u201d program, according to experts. Low-income workers who rely on the aid are braced for dire consequences. Katie Giede, a single mother and waitress in Conyers, Georgia, is one of the 42 million Americans who use<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[562,1386,1725,2258,7471,328,269,7472,313,3172,71,1438],"class_list":{"0":"post-13790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-cuts","9":"tag-domestic","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-looming","12":"tag-lowwage","13":"tag-policy","14":"tag-prices","15":"tag-reeling","16":"tag-rise","17":"tag-snap","18":"tag-trumps","19":"tag-workers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}