Massachusetts is seeing a sharp decline in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, enrollment since stricter federal rules took effect in the state in November, and children account for a significant share of those losses.
Roughly 160,000 Massachusetts residents have exited SNAP since. That total includes nearly 60,000 children, and it means many families have lost an important grocery lifeline.
Here’s what to know
According to MassLive, Massachusetts has seen SNAP participation fall 15% since October. The outlet also reported that nationwide enrollment dropped 13.5% between May 2025 and May 2026.
In Massachusetts, the average SNAP recipient receives $195 a month, or about $6.50 a day, for groceries. SNAP — previously called food stamps — is the nation’s primary food assistance program. When that benefit disappears, families can lose hundreds of dollars a month in purchasing power while food prices are still elevated.
At the center of the change is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which tightened work rules, added more administrative requirements, and barred some legal residents from qualifying. Erin McAleer, president of Project Bread, told MassLive that the extra red tape is making applications and renewals harder, leading some people to abandon the process or lose their benefits.
“Republicans said, ‘We’re not cutting people off,'” McAleer said. “But what they were doing was making it such a bureaucratic nightmare to access that people were cut off.”
UMass Amherst researchers reported in 2025 that roughly three-quarters of Massachusetts SNAP recipients who are of working age were already employed.
More background
Under the updated standards, work requirements now reach more parents and more middle-aged adults, and exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and former foster youth were eliminated. MassLive cited a report from Gov. Maura Healey’s Anti-Hunger Task Force estimating that about 100,000 Massachusetts residents would face the stricter rules within a year.
The overhaul also cut off SNAP access for certain legal non-citizens, including some refugees, asylees, and survivors of domestic violence or sex trafficking. The task force estimated that nearly 10,000 Massachusetts residents would be affected. Undocumented immigrants were not affected because they have never qualified for SNAP.
With SNAP benefits disappearing, more households are relying on food pantries instead, increasing pressure on a charitable system designed for emergencies rather than as a substitute for federal aid.
“The scale of this is bigger than the food pantries and food banks can meet,” McAleer said.
Julie LaFontaine, CEO of The Open Door in Gloucester, said requests for food assistance there jumped 36% in 2025 after rising 30% in each of the previous two years. Demand has increased another 12% so far in 2026.
What’s being done?
Following recommendations from the Anti-Hunger Task Force, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance hired 76 additional staff in 2026 to move paperwork faster, handle recertifications, and connect with clients more quickly.
The agency has also upgraded its technology and phone systems, expanded staff training, and assigned experienced caseworkers to focus on payment accuracy. Its SNAP payment error rate was 12.5% in the last fiscal year, above the 6% threshold that could trigger steep financial penalties under the new federal law.
If the state cannot reduce that error rate, Massachusetts could end up responsible for as much as $392 million in benefits that the federal government would otherwise cover.
“Three-quarters of the people we serve are on SNAP, and they still need some help to make it all work,” LaFontaine said, per MassLive. “For many people, we are the food system now. And I’m not sure that was what was ever intended.”
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