A three-year clock that decides whether hundreds of thousands of older Americans keep their grocery benefits runs out on September 30. For the first time, adults in their late 50s and early 60s are on that clock, after a 2025 law pushed the age ceiling for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s work rules all the way up to 64. Households that have already used their limited months of benefits without meeting the new work test could see their payments stop this fall, and many of them do not yet know it.
Why September 30 is the date that matters
SNAP has long limited how much help a so-called able-bodied adult without dependents (ABAWD) can get if they do not meet a work requirement. Under the rule, an ABAWD who does not work, volunteer, or train at least 80 hours a month can receive benefits for only three “countable” months in any rolling 36-month period. That timing is why late September is a pressure point: people who burned through their three months earlier in the current window are out of cushion until the clock resets.
The current federal period began October 1, 2023 and ends September 30, 2026, with a fresh 36-month window starting the next day. The federal rules themselves are spelled out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Administration, which confirms that ABAWDs subject to the time limit can get SNAP for only three months in three years unless they meet the 80-hour monthly work requirement or qualify for an exemption. The 80 hours can be paid work, unpaid volunteering, an approved training program, or any combination of the three.
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The age ceiling jumped from 54 to 64
The reason older workers are suddenly exposed is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the tax-and-spending law signed in July 2025. Before it, the ABAWD time limit generally applied to adults up to age 54. The law raised that ceiling to 64, sweeping in a large group of people in their late 50s and early 60s who had never had to track work hours to keep their groceries. Adults aged 55 through 64 who were previously exempt now must document that 80 hours a month or watch their benefits end after three months.
There is one wrinkle worth understanding. People aged 60 to 64 remain exempt from SNAP’s separate general work requirement, but they are still subject to the ABAWD time limit under the new law. In plain terms, being in your early 60s no longer shields you from the three-month cutoff the way it did before.
Exemptions that shrank, and a few that remain
The 2025 law did not only raise the age. It also narrowed who is automatically excused. The blanket exemptions that had covered veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults who aged out of foster care were removed, so those groups now have to meet the work requirement or qualify some other way. The caregiver exemption also tightened: it now covers a parent living with a child under 14, down from under 18.
Real exemptions still exist. People who are physically or mentally unable to work, those who are pregnant, and adults caring for a young child can be excused, along with a new carve-out for members of federally recognized tribes and certain other Native individuals. States can also request geographic waivers where jobs are scarce, and they hold a limited number of discretionary exemptions each year, as described in the USDA’s work-requirement policy resources. If any of these apply to you, it is worth confirming with your caseworker before the clock runs down.
What a household can do before benefits lapse
The single most important step is to document activity. If you are working, volunteering, or in a training program, make sure your state SNAP agency has proof of your hours, because unreported hours can count against you even when you are meeting the rule. States began phasing the new age band in between late 2025 and mid-2026, so the exact month your case is affected depends on where you live and when your case comes up for recertification. Do not assume a quiet month means you are safe; ask your local office directly when your countable months reset.
SNAP’s own Employment and Training program is one of the cleanest ways to satisfy the requirement, since enrollment generally counts toward the 80 hours and can come with support for transportation or job search. If you think you should be exempt, gather the paperwork now rather than after a benefit notice arrives.
How many people this reaches
The scale is not small. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that expanding the work requirement to older adults will push more than a million people ages 55 to 64 off food assistance, many of them people who are working or should qualify for an exemption but get tripped up by paperwork. For a household already stretched by grocery prices, losing a monthly SNAP allotment is a direct hit to the food budget, which is exactly why the September 30 reset is worth watching closely.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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