To offset the cost of trillions in tax cuts as part of the 2025 reconciliation process, Congress is considering changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that could significantly reduce support for people with low incomes nationwide. Though these proposals are currently being debated, several would threaten access to adequate nutrition for young adults from ages 18 to 24 who rely on SNAP for support. 

As Congress considers these cuts, policymakers should keep in mind the 3 million young adults whose access to healthy food and transition into adulthood would be negatively affected. 

SNAP currently supports the healthy development of millions of young adults

Almost 3 million young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are better able to afford healthy meals because of SNAP. The program supports the healthy development of young adults—particularly those with limited family support—during the difficult transition to adulthood and as they are entering the workforce. A 2022 survey found 31 percent of young adults experience food insecurity. Other research has found that SNAP can reduce food insecurity and can help stabilize young adults’ lives during times of economic insecurity.

SNAP’s support is particularly critical for young adults whose families have fewer resources. Young adults growing up in families with more wealth and resources are increasingly relying on family supports to help them transition to adulthood, but this “long runway” is less available to young adults whose families are less wealthy.

Job opportunities for young adults are more precarious than for other adults, which makes the transition to self-sufficiency challenging. Young adults are more likely than other adults to work low-wage jobs, work in the gig economy (PDF), or be unemployed. As a result, safety net programs like SNAP can help young adults with less familial support successfully transition to the workforce. 

How could cuts to SNAP negatively affect young adults’ access to adequate food?

Current proposals to cut SNAP benefits fall into four categories—reducing benefit levels, restricting eligibility, expanding work requirements, and reducing the federal share of SNAP spending—that could disproportionately affect young adults. The proposals involve complex or technical program changes that could easily fly under the radar, but their effects on young adults would not be so subtle.

1. Reducing benefit levels 
   In 2021, SNAP benefits increased after the minimum cost of a healthy diet was reevaluated for the first time since 2006. An Urban Institute analysis found that the 2021 adjustment kept 2.9 million people out of poverty and reduced the overall poverty level by 4.6 percent. A current proposal (PDF) outlines not only reverting to the 2006 dietary assumptions but also cutting the plan to periodically reevaluate the assumptions in the future. Reversing the 2021 adjustment would leave SNAP benefits too low to cover the price of modest meals in any US county.
2. Limiting eligibility
   Fewer young adults would qualify under proposed changes to the SNAP income eligibility threshold. Currently, the level of income needed to qualify is adjusted annually for inflation. A recent proposal would change the way inflation is measured, leading to smaller adjustments each year and fewer households meeting the minimum income eligibility criteria. Though we don’t know how many young adults would be affected, an Urban Institute analysis found that if this change had been in effect from 2011 to 2016, about 100,000 fewer people in total would have been eligible for SNAP. If it had been in effect from 2001 to 2016, more than half a million fewer people would have been eligible, leaving them less able to afford basic meals.
3. Expanding work-reporting requirements
   Under current rules, people without disabilities or dependents can receive SNAP benefits for only three months every three years unless they verify they are working at least 20 hours per week or qualify for an exemption. A recent proposal would eliminate several categories of exemptions, including those for young adults who aged out of foster care, people experiencing homelessness, and people living in areas with limited job openings. Research shows young adults can have difficulty meeting work requirements because of unstable and variable work hours and face acute challenges navigating the bureaucratic process of reporting their work hours. Evidence suggests that work-reporting requirements decrease access to SNAP without increasing work or wages.
4. Shifting program costs to states
   Proposals to shift SNAP program costs to states would likely lead to additional reductions in eligibility and benefits, leaving more young adults facing greater poverty and food insecurity. Currently, the federal government pays 100 percent of the cost of SNAP benefits and splits administrative costs evenly with states. Under a recent proposal, states would cover 5 percent of the benefit cost at first, ramping up to 50 percent state-covered benefits. States currently have no control over SNAP eligibility or benefit levels, and it is unclear if the shift in financial responsibility might also include new flexibility for states, as they are unlikely to raise sufficient revenue to cover benefit costs. An Urban Institute analysis estimated that if states were responsible for 10 percent of benefit costs and experienced a recession with job losses similar to the Great Recession, an additional 56,000 people ages 18 to 24 would fall into poverty as a result of expected state cuts to SNAP.

In sum, the evidence suggests these proposals would likely limit SNAP support for people of all ages, leading to increases in food insecurity that would be particularly destabilizing for young people transitioning to adulthood.