INTRODUCTION The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, plays a significant role in alleviating hunger in the United States. As the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program, SNAP serves nearly 42 million individuals in a typical month and provides critical support for helping families cover the cost of food. 1 The income support provided by SNAP benefits also makes the program one of the nation’s most effective tools in fighting poverty, helping keep roughly 4.3 million people above the poverty line in a typical month. 2 Studies have also shown that SNAP recipiency is linked to better health and nutrition, 3 improvements in children’s test scores and academic performance, 4 and even reductions in crime. 5 In the long term, every $1 spent on the SNAP program leads to $14 in benefits for society overall, likely more. 6 Despite SNAP’s critical role in U.S. anti-hunger and anti-poverty policy, recipients’ benefits must be stretched to meet food needs while many of their other basic needs are left unmet. Recent Poverty Tracker research reveals that nearly half of SNAP recipients in New York City needed more money to afford sufficient food for their family. 7 Clearly, there are avenues for expanding the program that could further bolster recipients’ economic security. However, recent federal actions are likely to have the opposite effect. In July 2025, Congress passed the H.R.1 reconciliation bill — sometimes referred to as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) — which instituted several changes to the SNAP program (detailed in this Spotlight) that will result in a 20% reduction in federal investment in the coming years. 8 The federal cuts to SNAP will be felt across the country, but in this Spotlight, we focus on SNAP beneficiaries in New York City and how these cuts could affect them. We document how SNAP currently moves many New Yorkers above the poverty line, but many recipients still remain in precarious situations even after accounting for these supports. We then explore how they are currently getting by in the city, managing the affordability crisis, and what is at stake for them given the federal government’s actions, including how many may be pushed into poverty with these cuts. Finally, we discuss how the state and local government can help offset these consequences. 1 Jones, “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — Key Statistics and Research.” 2 Wimer, et al., “The Impact of the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) on Monthly Poverty Rates.” 3 Carlson and Llobrera, “SNAP Is Linked with Improved Health Outcomes and Lower Health Care Costs.” Gunderson, “Food Assistance Programs and Child Health.” 4 Frongillo, et al., “Food Stamp Program Participation Is Associated with Better Academic Learning among School Children.” 5 Barr and Smith, “Fighting Crime in the Cradle: The Effects of Early Childhood Access to Nutritional Assistance.” 6 Koutavas, et al., “The Economic Costs of Cutting SNAP: Every $1 in SNAP Cuts to Families with Children Costs Society $14 to $20.” 7 Vinh, et al., “Spotlight on: Food Budget Shortfalls in New York City.” 8 The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the cuts to the SNAP program under OBBBA will reduce federal spending on the program by $187 billion over 10 years, which amounts to a roughly 20% reduction in investment in the program. For more details, see: Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Budgetary Effects of Public Law 119-21, to Provide for Reconciliation Pursuant to Title II of H. Con. Res. 14, relative to CBO’s January 2025 Base- line”; Congressional Budget Office, “Estimated Effects of Public Law 119-21 on Participation and Benefits Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”
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SNAP RECIPIENTS IN NEW YORK CITY AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF FEDERAL CUTS TO SNAP
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