The Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (
ABAWDs) work requirement was a bipartisan initiative put in place during the Clinton Administration, but it seems states continue to exploit loopholes.
While work-eligible adults must register for work in SNAP E&T, states currently have leeway to define their SNAP E&T programs as voluntary or mandatory except for a population known as able-bodied adults without dependents (
ABAWDs) ages 18-49.
In recent years, the group that has been growing the most rapidly among those receiving food stamps has been able-bodied adults without dependents--known as
ABAWDs in bureaucratic and policy circles.
Such detailed information is critical when investigating
ABAWD time limits and recertification intervals, which should affect exits at particular points in a spell.
The president's budget proposes a strict tightening, limiting the availability of
ABAWD waivers to counties with an unemployment rate above 10 percent and saving 21.5 billion in costs over a 10-year period.
(8) We obtained information on administrative food stamp caseloads, Electronic Benefit Transfer measures,
ABAWD waivers, and error rates from the U.S.
He praised the proposed rule for "creating a roadmap for states to more effectively engage
ABAWDs in this booming economy."
Several prominent researchers argue the need for greater research into low-income
ABAWDs. (62) Low-income
ABAWDs have less access to the safety net than other low-income groups, such as the elderly, disabled, and those raising children, and the challenges they face are less well understood than for other groups.
Opponents of the current restrictions on participation by able-bodied adults without children (
ABAWDs), which bar eligibility after three months unless the individual meets a work-related test, contend that they should either be abolished as too punitive (and administratively complex) or eased.