Benefit About 4.8 million adults over 60 rely on SNAP, and new work rules put hundreds of thousands at risk of losing food aid. By Daniel Harper, Roughly 4.8 million adults age 60 and older receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, and that population has been growing as a share of the total caseload since fiscal year 2019. The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 changed the rules for a category of recipients known as able-bodied adults without dependents, or ABAWDs, by raising the upper age limit subject to a three-month time limit on benefits. The phased expansion pulls in adults who were previously exempt, and states with thin workforce training systems face the steepest risk of losing participants before those adults can meet the new requirements. Older adults now make up a larger slice of the SNAP caseload SNAP defines “elderly” as age 60 or older, a threshold that determines access to simplified reporting rules and higher income deductions. According to USDA Economic Research Service data, the share of SNAP participants who are 60 and older rose between fiscal years 2019 and 2022, while the share made up by children slightly fell over the same period. That demographic shift means any policy change touching older adults now affects a bigger portion of the program than it would have just a few years ago. The growth is not random. An aging population, rising food costs, and fixed incomes have pushed more seniors onto the rolls. USDA’s fiscal year 2023 age distribution data confirms that adults 60 and older remain a significant segment of total participation. Those recipients also qualify for a distinct set of special rules for older households, including higher resource limits and medical expense deductions, which shape how much assistance they receive