Beginning this month, food stamp benefits increase

Beginning this month, food stamp benefits increase to keep up with the higher cost of groceries.

Several changes with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, include higher maximum benefit amounts and new qualifications for some.

SNAP, which used to be called the Food Stamp Program, helps low-income people and families pay for groceries. Increases will vary from just under 300-dollars for a one-person household to over 17-hundred for an eight-person family. That’s about 220-dollars added to the monthly total.

SNAP adult recipients who are in their early fifties who don’t have dependents will have to prove they’re working at least 80 hours a month. Adults between the ages of 18 and 52 already need to prove that.