JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s unemployment rate ticked up in March, with more than 520,000 Floridians out of work and looking for a job.
Meanwhile, the number of food stamp recipients has been steadily declining since the enactment of new work requirements.
Data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows nearly 70,000 Floridians stopped receiving food stamps after new work requirements kicked in on February 1st.
Food stamp participation is down by more than three million nationwide since the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July of last year.
In total, more than 450,000 Floridians have stopped receiving food stamps since the enactment of the OBBBA.
UNF Sociology Professor Jenny Stuber argued the new work for SNAP beneficiaries included in the act may be driving the decline.
“Americans don’t really like red tape and don’t like compliance and they would rather often do things on their own and go it alone rather than having to adhere to government regulation,” Stuber said.
And as more Floridians lose their food stamps, Florida’s unemployment rate continues to rise, increasing for three straight months in a row.
State data released Friday showed Florida hit an unemployment rate of 4.7 percent in March - the highest rate since July of 2021.
Stuber said it’s possible the rise in unemployment may suggest previously unemployed SNAP beneficiaries are rejoining the labor pool to comply with new work requirements.
But she noted research generally shows that’s not how it works in practice.
“Most beneficiaries are already in the labor pool,” Stuber said. “Once we carve out the population that is being asked to work to receive their benefits, 86 percent of them, maybe 77 percent to 86 percent of them, are already in the labor market. So, now we’re looking for a new policy that would nudge some 25 to 15 percent of those who are not actively in the labor market and don’t fit in the carve-outs for the policy to nudge them into the labor market.”
Stuber said, at this point, it’s too difficult to draw any direct lines between the new SNAP work requirements and rising unemployment rates.
But she argued the drop in SNAP enrollees will almost certainly cause ripple effects, like additional strains on food pantries and other community assistance programs.
“People are hungry, people need to eat and moving around work requirements doesn’t necessarily address that at all and rather you might see more churches and more societal civic organizations absorb some of that need,” Stuber said.
We’ll likely get a clearer picture of how the new work requirements are impacting the number of SNAP recipients in the coming months, as enrollment data for March becomes available.
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