According to US Census data, approximately 25 percent of US households contained one person in 2000, rising to 29 percent by 2025. Among SNAP households, 43 percent contained one person in 2000, compared with 59 percent in 2023 (FNS n.d.; US Census Bureau n.d.-a).
According to the US Census Bureau’s official poverty measure, which is a close approximation of SNAP eligibility, the official child poverty rate declined from a peak of 22.0 percent in 2010 to 15.3 percent in 2023. The official poverty rate for the elderly (defined as those age 65 and above) peaked in 2013 at 10.2 percent and declined to only 9.7 percent by 2023 (Shrider 2024).
SNAP’s work requirements for adults who are able-bodied and do not have dependent children were recently expanded to those age 60–64 through OBBBA, passed in July 2025.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 24 percent of adults reported a disability in 2016, compared with 28.7 percent in 2022 (the year with the most recent available data from the Disability and Health Data System). See DHDD (n.d.).
According to Monkovic and Ward (2025, 67, table A.14), 7,060,000 SNAP households contain an elderly individual, and 5,052,000 (72 percent) of those have Social Security income. Table A.15 reflects that the average certification period for households with an elderly individual is 25.5 months.
The average SNAP benefit adjusted by household size for households with an elderly individual was $81.67 in FY2000, compared with $162.73 in FY2023 (both in 2023 dollars), based on the author’s calculations using SNAP Quality Control data from FNS and Mathematica (n.d.).
One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Pub. L. No. 119-21 (2025).
For a summary of OBBBA’s changes to SNAP and the Congressional Budget Office’s estimates, see Aussenberg (2025).