CBO: Debt Ceiling Deal Means 78,000 More Able-Bodied, Childless Adults Could Get Food Stamps
New work requirements will target those over age 50, but the debt ceiling deal also loosens existing work requirements for those under age 50.
One of the more fascinating sideshows of the debate over
raising the federal government's debt ceiling has been the Republican-led effort to impose new work requirements on some food stamp recipients.
On the left, the idea that working-age, able-bodied, childless food stamp beneficiaries should be required to find employment in order to qualify for government benefits has been met with the
usual shrill responses claiming that Republicans must hate the poor. On the right, the focus has been on ensuring government welfare systems aren't sending the wrong signals. "Incentives matter. And the incentives today are out of whack," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R–Calif.) said in an April
speech at the New York Stock Exchange. "It's time to get Americans back to work."
In the end, however, the debt ceiling deal struck by McCarthy and President Joe Biden is likely to end up with
more Americans qualifying for food stamps—in large part because the deal actually removes work requirements for many individuals currently subject to them.
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