
Able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) are supposed to work as a condition of receiving food stamp benefits.
However, states can apply geographic waivers of the ABAWD work requirement for food stamp recipients in any area that has an unemployment rate above 10 percent or “does not have a sufficient number of jobs.”
The geographic waivers are a massive loophole in the ABAWD work requirement.

Waivers can cover all or parts of the state. In the second quarter of FY 2024, 12 states and territories waived work requirements statewide and 22 states implemented geographic waivers that covered parts of the state.
The states covered by these statewide and partial waivers had 26.5 million food stamp recipients in FY 2023, 63 percent of all food stamp recipients nationwide.
When these waivers took effect in January 2024, the U.S. unemployment rate was just 3.7 percent. In the states with a statewide or geographic waiver, the weighted average unemployment rate was 4.1 percent. This is less than the than the average U.S. unemployment rate since 2001 of 5.8 percent and is less than the CBO's projected Noncyclical Rate of Unemployment of 4.4 percent, considered the “natural unemployment” or “full employment” rate.
| Statewide Work Requirement Waiver | ||
| State | FY 2023 SNAP Participation | Unemployment Rate in Jan 2024 |
| California | 5,217,211 | 5.2 |
| Delaware | 121,174 | 4.1 |
| District of Columbia | 138,570 | 5 |
| Hawaii | 151,144 | 3.1 |
| Illinois | 2,031,385 | 4.7 |
| Michigan | 1,430,174 | 4 |
| Nevada | 493,015 | 5.3 |
| New Jersey | 771,277 | 4.8 |
| New Mexico | 488,364 | 4 |
| New York | 2,886,163 | 4.5 |
| Partial Work Requirement Waiver | ||
| State | FY 2023 SNAP Participation | Unemployment Rate in Jan 2024 |
| Alaska | 54,002 | 4.6 |
| Arizona | 898,016 | 4.2 |
| Colorado | 564,020 | 3.4 |
| Connecticut | 392,515 | 4.4 |
| Kentucky | 554,221 | 4.3 |
| Louisiana | 896,551 | 4.1 |
| Maine | 167,768 | 3.4 |
| Maryland | 671,132 | 2.3 |
| Massachusetts | 1,082,711 | 3 |
| Minnesota | 460,568 | 2.7 |
| Montana | 84,527 | 3.3 |
| New Hampshire | 74,617 | 2.6 |
| North Dakota | 45,153 | 1.9 |
| Ohio | 1,418,005 | 3.7 |
| Oregon | 732,422 | 4.1 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,927,478 | 3.4 |
| Rhode Island | 142,922 | 3.6 |
| South Dakota | 71,470 | 2.1 |
| Vermont | 70,685 | 2.3 |
| Virginia | 842,819 | 3 |
| Washington | 897,771 | 4.6 |
| Wisconsin | 707,321 | 3.2 |
Read the EPIC Report: Strengthen Food Stamp Work Requirements to Promote Opportunity.



