New SNAP work requirements take effect, squeezing retail workers' budgets

SNAP’s new work rules landed just as retail workers already living close to the edge had less room to absorb another hit to the monthly budget. For many Big Lots employees, the change is not abstract policy. It is a direct question of hours worked, forms filed on time, and whether the grocery money stretches to the end of the month.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says SNAP is meant to supplement the grocery budget of low-income families, and current guidance says able-bodied adults without dependents must work or take part in a work program for at least 20 hours a week to keep benefits beyond three months in a 36-month period. That standard now matters more because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, signed by President Donald J. Trump on July 4, 2025, changed the exception and waiver rules that determine who is subject to the work requirements.

The USDA’s implementation memo says the age exception rises to 65 and older. It also narrows the child-care exception to people caring for a child under 14 and removes exceptions for homeless individuals, veterans and some former foster youth age 24 and younger. In plain terms, more adults can now get pulled into the work-rule system, and more workers may have to prove they still qualify.

That is where the retail reality bites. Big Lots workers often face variable schedules, shifting hour totals and seasonal changes that can move fast from one week to the next. A worker who goes from full shifts to part time, or moves between stores, can see a benefit problem turn into a food problem quickly if the paperwork is late or the hours are not reported correctly. USDA says state SNAP agencies must screen workers and apply the rules and waivers, and some areas still qualify for county or city waivers in places with higher unemployment. That means the impact can differ sharply by location.

The pressure lands on top of Big Lots’s own instability. The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 9, 2024, and later said it did not intend to file quarterly or annual reports for subsequent periods. Before that filing, Big Lots operated 1,392 stores in 48 states as of May 4, 2024. A chain that large has thousands of hourly workers whose household budgets can be jolted by even small changes in benefits, hours or deadlines.

KFF has found that complex work-requirement systems can create confusion and enrollment losses when people are not successfully contacted or do not understand what is required. That is the risk now for retail workers: the rules changed, the paperwork got heavier, and the margin for error got smaller at the same time.