More than 4.5M people have lost federal food aid in the United States since last summer, and food banks now report a steady rise in a group they once saw far less often: working people with jobs, homes, and regular bills who still cannot cover the weekly shop.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities puts the fall in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrolment at more than 4.5M between the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025 and April 2026, based on federal and state data. It estimates that the number of children on SNAP has dropped by more than 1.5M over the same period.