Millions of adults in their 50s and early 60s who rely on food assistance are losing benefits after Congress extended SNAP work requirements to cover people through age 64. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that SNAP participation will drop by roughly 2.4 million people in an average month over the next decade as a result of the change, enacted through P.L. 119-21. States are now racing to enforce the new rules, with North Carolina and Nevada among those already notifying affected households.
How P.L. 119-21 extended the ABAWD time limit to age 64
Until recently, the SNAP time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents applied mainly to people between 18 and 49. That changed when Congress passed H.R. 1 of the 119th Congress, a reconciliation measure that raised the upper age boundary to 64. Adults in that expanded range must now meet work, training, or community service obligations to keep receiving benefits beyond a limited number of months.
The law built on groundwork laid by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. USDA published a final rule on December 17, 2024, implementing several FRA provisions, including updates to the program’s purpose statement and revised definitions of who qualifies for exemptions from the time limit. The 2025 legislation then went further, widening the age window and tightening the conditions under which states can shield recipients from the requirement.
A Congressional Research Service brief on P.L. 119-21 confirmed CBO’s projection that roughly 2.4 million people would lose access in an average month over the scoring window. That estimate captures the net effect of both the age expansion and narrower exemption rules. The headline figure of about 4 million who have dropped off reflects cumulative attrition reported across states, though no single federal dataset yet reconciles the monthly and cumulative counts by age group.
Under longstanding SNAP rules, able-bodied adults without dependents can receive only three months of benefits in a three-year period unless they meet specific requirements. Those conditions, detailed in USDA’s work requirement guidance, generally include working or participating in a qualifying activity for at least 80 hours per month. P.L. 119-21 did not change the basic time-limit structure, but by extending the age range and narrowing who is exempt, it exposed a much larger slice of older adults to the three-month cutoff.
North Carolina, Nevada, and the state-by-state rollout
Federal law sets the framework, but state agencies decide how quickly and aggressively to implement it. North Carolina began applying the expanded ABAWD time limit to adults ages 18 through 64 on December 1, 2025. The state’s guidance spells out monthly reporting obligations and the specific activities that count toward the work requirement, such as employment, approved training, or community service arranged through county social services offices.
The policy shift has been especially significant for North Carolinians in their late 50s and early 60s who had never before been subject to the ABAWD clock. County agencies report fielding calls from recipients confused about why long-standing benefits are suddenly ending after three months. Advocates in the state say older workers with unstable schedules, transportation barriers, or fluctuating health conditions are finding it difficult to document enough hours to stay in compliance.
Nevada followed with its own public notice, specifying that the ABAWD definition now covers ages 18 to 64 and that adults are subject to the time limit unless a child under age 14 lives in the SNAP household. That child-age threshold is a direct product of the statutory changes, replacing broader dependent exemptions that previously kept more older adults off the clock. State officials have emphasized that the exemption is tied to household composition, not biological parenthood, meaning grandparents and other caregivers may qualify if a young child lives with them.
USDA reinforced the policy direction in an April 2025 press release, stating that “those who can work, should work while receiving SNAP.” The agency pointed to the FRA 2023 amendments to the program’s purpose statement, which emphasize employment and self-sufficiency, and framed the P.L. 119-21 changes as a continuation of that approach. At the same time, USDA has reminded states that they retain limited authority to request waivers of the time limit in areas with high unemployment or insufficient jobs, though those waivers are subject to stricter caps under recent law.
Older adults caught between work rules and weak labor markets
For adults in their 50s and early 60s, the new age cutoff collides with labor-market realities. Many in this group face age discrimination, chronic health conditions that do not meet disability standards, or caregiving responsibilities that limit their availability for steady work. In regions where part-time and seasonal jobs dominate, maintaining the required hours month after month can be challenging even for those actively seeking employment.
Anti-hunger organizations warn that the policy is likely to increase food insecurity among people who are still years away from Medicare and full Social Security retirement benefits. They argue that while the law aims to encourage work, it may instead push some older adults to skip meals, delay medical care, or take on risky informal jobs to bridge gaps in income and food assistance. State officials, meanwhile, are under pressure to implement federal rules quickly, often with limited staffing and data systems not yet calibrated to track compliance among the expanded age group.
As P.L. 119-21 continues to roll out, the coming years will reveal whether the promised employment gains materialize-or whether the primary impact of extending SNAP work requirements to age 64 is a quieter but deeper erosion of the program’s reach among older low-income adults.
