I'm middle age, white, and unable to find a job in my career. So I get $292/month from SNAP (pic related is off by $1 as it's from last year).
Qualifying for SNAP is mainly based on income and household size. You're expected to spend 1/3rd of your income on food and the government will cover the gap between than and the $292 that is set as the amount needed for a person to each for an entire month. There's a small standard deduction (something like $800 for the first household member and $550ish for each additional household member) plus deductions for housing costs and utilities, though I'm not sure if they're at 100% or it scales. Either way, any money you make over your deductions must have 1/3rd set aside for food. If you live alone and make $300/month after deductions, you are expected to set aside $100 for food and the government will give you $192 to cover the rest of your need. If you make $876 over the deduction, you get nothing.
Now, about the work requirements. There are two. The general requirement is that you do not turn down any job offered to you and you do not voluntarily reduce your hours if you have a job. This rule is generally unenforceable as the government has no way of knowing if you turned down a job and unless they call your employer, has no way of knowing why your hours were cut.
The second work requirement is the one Congress is changing. Until a few years ago, It required adults without a dependent child to work at least 20 hours a week. Volunteer work or work training in a government approved program could count towards the 20 hour requirement. Adults over 50 were exempt due to expectations of age discrimination and lower physical ability. If you were over 50 and still on SNAP, it generally meant something was really wrong in your life that wasn't going to be fixed by cutting off your food. You can see why some women spread out their children so they always had a dependent in the household until they made it to 50.
(continued)
