Questions and Answers About Work Requirements Provisions in the House Republican Debt Limit Proposal, Part I

A key component to addressing poverty is to increase employment. One way to increase employment is to lessen the work disincentives in safety net policies by requiring work or other pro-work activities in exchange for government assistance. Some safety net programs already have work requirements for this reason. As part of legislation to extend the debt limit, House Republicans are proposing to apply work requirements to more benefit recipients. Below we outline some key questions and answers about work requirements in US safety net policy.

What are work requirements, exactly?

Work requirements generally mean that adult benefit recipients must work, train, search for work, or engage in other productive activities for a certain number of hours each month to remain eligible for benefits. Thus, despite the name, work requirements do not always require recipients to have a job, but often allow them to search for work, participate in training, or engage in other activities that may lead to work. Some safety net programs in the US already have work requirements, including unemployment insurance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, commonly known as food stamps). These work requirements typically cover non-disabled individuals deemed capable of working.

The intention behind work requirements is to counteract work disincentives associated with means-tested benefits. Without work requirements, individuals might choose to work less or not at all, because they can replace earnings with government aid. This can have long-term negative effects on the individual and on the government's fiscal situation as the need for assistance grows.

What is being proposed?

The draft "Limit, Save, Grow Act" released this week would expand work requirements in three ways. First, it would cover more individuals collecting SNAP benefits under current work requirement policies. Second, it would create new "community engagement requirements" for certain able-bodied adults without dependents who collect Medicaid benefits, generally paralleling those covered under the revised SNAP requirements. Finally, it would strengthen the effect of current TANF work requirements.

What are the policy details?

The proposal would modestly expand the age range of the current SNAP work requirement, which generally expects "able-bodied adults without dependents" (i.e. ABAWDs) to work, train, or participate in other activities for at least 20 hours per week in order to receive SNAP benefits. ABAWDs who fail to satisfy this requirement can collect no more than three months of SNAP benefits in a three-year period. The current requirement covers adults under age 50, and the proposed expansion would expand this to age 55. The proposal would also eliminate states' ability to carry over exemptions to the work requirement from year to year, starting in fiscal year 2025.

The proposed legislation also includes a new Medicaid "community engagement requirement" that is designed to generally parallel SNAP's ABAWD work requirement. Under this policy, states would not be eligible for federal Medicaid payments unless able-bodied adult recipients age 19 through 55 without dependent children engaged in at least 80 hours per month of work, community service, or participation in a work program. States would be ineligible for federal payments for ABAWDs who failed to satisfy this requirement during more than three months in a calendar year.

The TANF changes close several loopholes in how states apply current work requirements, generally expecting a greater share of adult recipients to engage in work or productive activities. Currently, states must engage at least 50 percent of the adult TANF caseload in work or a work activity for at least 30 hours per week or face financial penalties. But current law allows reductions to the work participation rate based on caseload declines since 2005, excess state spending, and other loopholes. The proposal updates the first policy for current caseload levels and eliminates the other loopholes.

Who exactly would this proposal affect?

For SNAP, this proposal will affect only SNAP recipients age 50–55 without dependents who are not disabled and work-capable. In Medicaid, the new community engagement requirement would apply only to childless non-disabled adults under age 56, essentially applying a work requirement to the same population in Medicaid as in SNAP.

The TANF proposal strengthens current work participation requirements on states. This means that, ultimately, states will decide how to meet the strengthened work participation requirement. However, most likely states will choose to engage more work-capable adults receiving TANF to achieve the work participation requirement, or help more adults leave the rolls in favor of work.

Learn more: Do Work Requirements in Safety Net Programs Work? | Seven Lessons from a New GAO Report on Improper Payments | Report Reviews How Inflation Hurts Americans with Limited Incomes the Most | Congress Must Address SNAP's Contribution to Poor Health

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