Extra pandemic SNAP benefits will end March 1
People who need help paying for food are about to lose resources they’ve gotten for years.
People who get SNAP benefits have gotten extra money since the pandemic began in early 2020, but those additional payments will end March 1.
The state government says the average Pennsylvania household will lose more than $180 a month in benefits.
Channel 11′s Talia Kirkland talked to people bracing for the big changes, ahead of their last weekend with enhanced benefits.
“We were surviving every month,” said Patrice Aaron, a single mom. When the pandemic began, she was forced to stop working and began receiving benefits.
When she found a part-time job this year, she lost some of those benefits.
“I went down from like $516 to $399, that made a big difference in my household,” Aaron said.
With the announcement that the additional emergency funding will end soon, families like Aaron’s are set to lose another roughly 15%.
Officials estimate the average family will lose at least $90 each month, but that number could be higher based on family size.
“The cost of living is going up it’s hurting everyone out here like everybody uses those food stamps to take care of their kids, so them cutting it off starting March the first, it’s going to be really hard out here,” Aaron said.
This comes at a time when inflation is spiking.
Groceries were about 10% higher in December than a year earlier.
Aaron noted even basic items like bread, eggs and milk cost more.
“You think you are going to spend $50, you are probably spending $100,” she said.
Last week, 11 News checked in with the Greater Pittsburgh Community food bank which said they receive 1600 calls a month on average.
They expect that number to spike.
Aaron fears help may run out quickly in such an unstable economy.
“Right now it’s been hard a lot of organizations are shut down people are not getting help, it’s been crazy out here. It’s been hard,” she said.
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