2026年4月20日 美国东部时间早上5:00 / KFF健康新闻
弗吉尼亚州德尔巴顿讯——当希望之家流动食品救济站的排队队伍开始移动时，已有六辆车在队列中等待了近四个小时。到上午11点30分食品分发开始时，后面又多了约70辆停着的车。
原计划11点开始发放食品箱，但运送食品的“对抗饥饿食品银行”卡车在途中爆胎了。没有人抱怨。
佩里·霍尔是排队等候的人之一。他的妻子莉莉·霍尔是这次分发队伍的志愿者。佩里患有多发性骨髓瘤这种癌症。霍尔夫妇每月依靠佩里的社会保障金约1500美元，加上联邦补充营养援助计划（简称SNAP，前身为食品券计划）的补助维持生计。但由于年龄原因，59岁的莉莉最近受到了新的SNAP工作要求的约束，面临失去福利的风险。
作为联邦《宏大美好法案》的一部分，所有64岁及以下、无受抚养人、每月未从事工作、志愿服务或参加至少80小时职业培训的“健全成年人”，现在每三年仅能领取三个月的SNAP福利。此前，联邦要求仅适用于54岁及以下人群。这项于11月生效的新规定还适用于子女年满14岁的父母，并取消了对退伍军人、无家可归者和脱离寄养系统的年轻成年人的豁免。
工作要求的支持者认为，这些规定能激励“具备工作能力”的人群寻找并保住工作，减少对政府援助的依赖，维护“工作的尊严”。
朗达·罗贡贝是西弗吉尼亚州预算与政策中心的健康和安全网政策分析师。她和同事研究了SNAP工作规则的影响，发现要求受助者工作并未降低所在地区的失业率。
新冠疫情期间，此前的工作要求在全国范围内暂停，并于2023年秋季恢复。研究人员发现，恢复该要求后，明戈县每月的平均就业人数实际上有所下降。
2018年的一项联邦研究项目对包括九个州的SNAP数据在内的多个数据源进行了分析，发现工作要求“对劳动力参与率和工作时长均无影响”。
罗贡贝表示，有多种可能的解释，“但当人们挨饿时，他们无法养活自己。当人们挨饿时，很难集中精力工作，很难开展工作活动，我们认为这是其中一个原因。”
这个西弗吉尼亚州南部县的就业岗位稀缺。莉莉·霍尔在德尔巴顿的一家餐厅找到了工作，但在服务员职位空缺前，她的工作没有报酬——这份工作足以保住她的福利，但远非理想选择。
在3月底那个温和的周三，希望之家发放了鸡肉、鸡蛋、面包、土豆、新鲜果蔬和牛奶。
提摩西·特雷莱文和妻子克里斯汀以及盖尔·伦迪亚罗共同运营这家救济站。他说，排队的人中既有年长居民，也有“一些迷失方向、找不到工作、只是需要帮助的年轻人”。
提摩西·特雷莱文运营着西弗吉尼亚州德尔巴顿的希望之家食品救济站。该救济站的服务对象包括年长居民和“一些迷失方向、找不到工作、只是需要帮助的年轻人”。泰勒·西斯科 摄 KFF健康新闻
希望之家的固定发放日是每月最后一个周六，偶尔会在工作日增加“对抗饥饿食品银行”的配送服务，这是因为每月的救助金快用完、食品柜空空如也的时候。
在典型的周六，救济站工作人员和志愿者会分发多达400箱食品。
“做这件事是一种荣幸，”伦迪亚罗说，“这是一种祝福。”
在典型的发放日，西弗吉尼亚州德尔巴顿的希望之家食品救济站会分发多达400箱食品。泰勒·西斯科 摄 KFF健康新闻
佩里·霍尔的癌症目前已缓解，但曾有一段时间，他的治疗需要他和莉莉往返奔波，单程4.5小时前往摩根敦。夫妻俩的面包车无法完成这段路程，所以他们花钱请朋友接送。
明戈县的人口目前略低于2.2万，低于2010年的约2.7万。这里曾因煤炭产业蓬勃发展。县治威廉姆森曾拥有一座歌剧院，还有来自意大利、俄罗斯和叙利亚的移民开办的企业。该地区至今仍被称为“煤田”，但如今这里几乎不再采煤。四分之一的居民生活在贫困线以下。
罗贡贝和同事发现，明戈县居民在获取为数不多的就业岗位方面面临重大障碍，包括未申报的身心障碍、住房不稳定、缺乏高中文凭和身份证件。
对许多居民来说，申请福利或确认合规的文书工作十分困难。西弗吉尼亚州预算与政策中心的研究发现，约四分之一的人无法稳定接入互联网。
SNAP计划还将迎来更多变革。目前，联邦政府和各州平均分担行政成本，但从10月起，各州将承担75%的行政成本。从2027年10月开始，各州还需根据错误率支付额外成本。
和西弗吉尼亚州一样，肯塔基州也是较贫困的州之一，将受到新要求和成本增加的最严重影响。肯塔基州经济政策中心估计，扩大后的工作要求可能导致多达11.4万居民失去SNAP福利。
该中心研究员杰西卡·克莱因对后果表示担忧。“我们知道SNAP对健康有影响，不仅因为它减少了粮食不安全问题，”她说，“它还会加重高血压、肥胖、服药依从性等问题。”
随着各州背负额外的财政负担，“我认为我们会看到一些州为了拥有一个规模更小、负担得起的项目而修改影响参与率的规则，”克莱因说，“我担心的是，有些州可能会完全停止运营SNAP。”
在明戈县，人们正在挺身而出。至少有八家食品救济站为有需要的人提供食品。
珍妮特·吉布森在本溪社区运营“祝福谷仓”救济站。她说：“我可以从溪的一头走到另一头，叫出每个人的名字，还能说出他们的一点情况。”她为能为乡亲们提供食物感到自豪。
珍妮特·吉布森在西弗吉尼亚州本溪社区运营“祝福谷仓”食品救济站。她说，交通不便问题是该县寻找和保住工作的一大障碍。泰勒·西斯科 摄 KFF健康新闻
吉布森表示，该县很难找到志愿服务机会，这在很大程度上是因为交通不便。看看当地地图可能会产生误导：在沟壑或山脊上行驶几十英里可能需要一个多小时。
“无论你是否全职工作，你仍然需要花钱开车去上班，”吉布森说，“现在汽油可不便宜。”
来自肯塔基州帕迪尤卡的三个孩子的单身母亲翠斯塔·尚克尔不受新的SNAP工作要求约束，但她对社会安全网的脆弱性感到担忧。她克服了重重困难，目前正在攻读社会工作硕士学位，并在一家机构工作，该机构负责为社区大学生联系临时援助有需要家庭的福利。她的家庭领取SNAP福利、医疗补助、住房补贴，以及美国农业部妇女、婴儿和儿童特别补充营养计划的援助。她说，如果其中任何一项被削减，她可能不得不辍学。
尚克尔坚信，如果没有她和家人获得的这些福利，她不可能走到今天这一步：“它们带来了平静和安心。我知道我的孩子们不会挨饿。”
4月的第一周，莉莉·霍尔到黑熊小径餐厅报到上班。她对这个机会心存感激。当服务员职位空缺时，“我会立刻抓住那个职位，快得让你反应不过来。”
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Food stamp work rules don’t increase employment, researchers say
April 20, 2026 5:00 AM EDT / KFF Health News
DELBARTON, W.Va. — A half-dozen cars had been in the queue for nearly four hours by the time the House of Hope mobile food pantry line began to move. Seventy or so more idled behind them by 11:30 a.m., when the food distribution began.
The plan was to begin handing out boxes of groceries at 11, but the Facing Hunger Foodbank truck delivering the food blew a tire en route. No one complained.
Perry Hall was among those waiting. His wife, Lilly Hall, volunteers with the distribution team. Perry has been dealing with a form of cancer called multiple myeloma. The Halls get by on around $1,500 a month from his Social Security benefits, plus assistance from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. But because of her age, Lilly, 59, recently became subject to new SNAP work requirements and at risk of losing her benefits.
As part of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, all “able-bodied adults” 64 or younger who don’t have dependents and don’t work, volunteer, or participate in job training at least 80 hours a month are now restricted to three months of benefits every three years from SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Previously, the federal requirement applied to those 54 or younger. The new rule, which went into effect in November, also applies to parents of children 14 or older. And it removed exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults who’ve aged out of foster care.
Proponents of work requirements argue that they incentivize people who are “work-ready” to seek and keep jobs, reducing dependence on government assistance and upholding the “dignity of work.”
Rhonda Rogombé serves as health and safety net policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. She and her colleagues have studied the effects of SNAP work rules and found that requiring recipients to work does not lower an area’s unemployment rate.
Previous work requirements were suspended nationwide during the covid pandemic and reinstated in fall 2023. The researchers found that the average number of people employed in Mingo County each month actually went down after the requirement was reimposed.
A 2018 federal research project that examined several data sources, including SNAP data from nine states, found that work requirements “have no impact on labor force participation and the number of hours worked.”
There are a number of possible explanations, Rogombé said, “but when people are hungry, they’re not able to support themselves. When people are hungry, it’s harder to focus at work. It’s harder to engage in work activity, and we think that that’s part of it.”
Jobs are scarce in this southern West Virginia county. Lilly Hall found work at a Delbarton restaurant. But it’s unpaid until a waitress position opens — enough to preserve her benefits, but far from ideal.
On that mild Wednesday in late March, House of Hope provided chicken, eggs, bread, potatoes, fresh fruit and vegetables, and milk.
Among those in line were older residents and “some young people that have lost their way and they can’t get work and they just need help,” said Timothy Treleven, who operates the pantry with his wife, Christine, and Gail Lendearo.
Timothy Treleven helps run the House of Hope food pantry in Delbarton, West Virginia. The pantry’s clients include older residents and “some young people that have lost their way and they can’t get work and they just need help.” Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News
House of Hope’s scheduled distribution day is the last Saturday of each month — supplemented by occasional weekday Facing Hunger visits — as money from monthly checks begins to run out and cupboards go bare.
On a typical Saturday, pantry staff and volunteers hand out up to 400 boxes of food.
“It’s an honor to do this,” Lendearo said. “It’s a blessing.”
On a typical distribution day, the House of Hope food pantry in Delbarton, West Virginia, hands out up to 400 boxes of food. Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News
Perry Hall’s cancer is now in remission, but for a while his treatment required that he and Lilly travel back and forth, 4½ hours each way, to Morgantown. The couple’s van couldn’t make the trip, so they paid a friend for rides.
Mingo’s population is just under 22,000, down from around 27,000 in 2010. It once flourished, fueled by coal. Williamson, the county seat, was home to an opera house and businesses operated by immigrants from Italy, Russia, and Syria. The region is still referred to as “the coalfields,” but little is mined here these days. A quarter of residents live in poverty.
Rogombé and her colleagues found that Mingo County residents face significant barriers to securing what few jobs are available. These include unreported physical and mental impairments, housing insecurity, and a lack of high school diplomas and identification documents.
Filing the paperwork to receive benefits or to confirm compliance is difficult for many residents. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy’s research found that about 1 in 4 lack reliable internet access.
Additional changes lie ahead for the SNAP program. Currently, the federal government and the states share administrative costs equally, but in October states will assume 75% of those costs. And beginning in October 2027, they’ll be required to pay additional costs based on error rates.
Kentucky, like West Virginia, is among the poorer states that will be most affected by the new requirements and costs. The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy estimates that up to 114,000 residents risk losing SNAP benefits with the expanded work requirements.
Jessica Klein, a researcher with the center, worries about the consequences. “We know SNAP has an impact on health, and not just because it decreases food insecurity,” she said. It worsens blood pressure rates, obesity, medication adherence, and more.
With the additional financial burden placed on states, “I think what we’ll see is some states changing rules that impact participation in order to have a smaller, more affordable program,” Klein said. “My fear is that some states will choose not to operate SNAP at all.”
In Mingo County, folks are stepping up. At least eight food pantries offer groceries to those in need.
Janet Gibson runs the Blessing Barn pantry in the Ben Creek community. “I can go from one end of the creek to the other” and tell you everyone’s name and a little something about them, she said. She takes pride in feeding her people.
Janet Gibson runs the Blessing Barn food pantry in the West Virginia community of Ben Creek. She says transportation challenges are a barrier to finding and maintaining work in the county. Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News
Gibson said it can be hard to find even volunteer opportunities in the county, largely because of transportation challenges. A look at a local map can be misleading: A couple of dozen miles into a holler or up a ridge could take an hour or more.
“Whether you’re working full-time or not, you’re still spinning out gas to get to work,” Gibson said, “and gas ain’t cheap now.”
A single mother of three, Trista Shankle of Paducah, Kentucky, isn’t subject to the new SNAP requirements, but she worries about the fragility of the social safety net. She overcame challenges, is earning a master’s degree in social work, and works for an organization that connects community college students with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits. Her family receives SNAP, Medicaid, housing support, and assistance from the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. If any one of those is cut, she said, she may have to drop out of school.
Shankle is certain she wouldn’t have advanced to where she is today without the benefits she and her family have received: “They bring a sense of calm and comfort. I know that my kids aren’t going to go hungry.”
The first week in April, Lilly Hall reported for work at Black Bear Trails Restaurant. She’s grateful for the opportunity. And when a waitress slot opens, “I’ll snag that position so quick it’ll make your head flip.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
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