Biden administration to increase monthly food stamp benefits

The Biden administration is set to approve the largest permanent increase in benefits in the country’s food stamp program – providing more food for low-income Americans but also adding billions to the cost of the program, according to news reports.

The change is the result of the administration revising the nutrition standards for the program, which feeds one in eight Americans, according to The New York Times. They are set to be announced Monday and put in place in October.

The average benefits will increase more than 25% from pre-pandemic levels. 

All 42 million people in the program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will receive the additional aid. 

The change does not require congressional approval are intended to be permanent, unlike some pandemic-related assistance programs that are expiring. 

Under the new rules, the average monthly benefits, $121 a person before the pandemic, will increase by $36. 

More than three-quarters of households reportedly exhaust their benefits in the first half of the monthly cycle, The Times also reports.