ABAWD Rules: SNAP Time Limits, 80-Hour Work, and Exemptions

ABAWD rules are the SNAP requirements that apply to Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents: if you’re 18 through 54, physically and mentally able to work, and don’t have a child under 14 in your household, you must work or participate in an approved activity for at least 80 hours a month, or SNAP will cut you off after three months within any 36-month period.¹

Who the Rules Apply To

Three things put you in ABAWD status. Your age falls between 18 and 54.¹ The upper cutoff was raised from 49 by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and settled at 54 in fiscal year 2025; those 55 and older are exempt.² The expanded age range is scheduled to sunset on October 1, 2030, at which point the exempt age would drop back to 50 and older unless Congress acts.³

You’re able-bodied. If you’re medically certified as unable to work, you’re not an ABAWD.

And your household has no dependent child under 14.⁴ That threshold was lowered from 18 to 14 effective July 2025.⁵ If a 15-year-old lives with you, you’re now subject to the time limit even though a year ago you wouldn’t have been.

The 80-Hour Monthly Work Requirement

To keep SNAP past three months, you need to log at least 80 hours of qualifying activity every month. Several kinds of activity count:¹

Paid employment or self-employment, including gig work.
Unpaid or volunteer work. Hours worked in exchange for goods, services, or nothing at all count the same as paid hours.
Approved work programs, including those under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, SNAP Employment and Training, and other state, federal, or local workforce programs.
A combination of the above. Forty hours of paid work plus forty hours in a training program hits the threshold.
Workfare, in states that run it. Required hours there are calculated from your benefit amount rather than a flat 80.

Your state agency needs proof. Pay stubs, an employer letter showing hours worked, or a program coordinator’s verification are typical. Keep the records yourself each month. The burden of showing compliance is on you, not the caseworker.

The Three-Month Time Limit

An ABAWD who doesn’t meet the 80-hour requirement can receive SNAP for only three months within a rolling 36-month period.¹ The three months don’t have to be consecutive. Each month you draw benefits without meeting the requirement counts against the total, and the state tracks that tally across the three-year window.³

Once you use up those three countable months, benefits stop. No warning month, no grace period. The months add up faster than most people expect during a stretch between jobs or while waiting for a program slot.

Who Is Exempt

Federal law exempts several groups from the time limit even when they otherwise fit the ABAWD profile:³

People who are medically unfit to work. This covers anyone receiving disability benefits from any source, anyone the state agency determines is obviously unfit, and anyone whose healthcare provider submits a statement confirming they can’t work.
Pregnant individuals, regardless of other factors.
Anyone in a household with a child under 14.⁴
People under 18 or 55 and older.
People experiencing homelessness. That means lacking a fixed, regular nighttime residence, including staying in shelters, halfway houses, temporary accommodations in someone else’s home for 90 days or fewer, or places not meant for sleeping.
Veterans. Anyone who served in the U.S. Armed Forces, including reserve components, the Coast Guard, National Guard, and commissioned officers of the Public Health Service or NOAA. Discharge conditions don’t matter.⁶
Former foster youth aged 24 or younger who were in foster care on their 18th birthday, including those in extended foster care and those who aged out.
Native American and Alaska Native individuals. Indians and Urban Indians as defined under federal law are exempt.⁴

The exemptions for homelessness, veterans, and former foster youth were added by the Fiscal Responsibility Act and are set to expire on October 1, 2030. If any of these fits you, document it now. Don’t assume your caseworker already has the information.

Area Waivers and State Discretionary Exemptions

You might live somewhere the time limit doesn’t currently apply at all. States can request temporary waivers for geographic areas where the unemployment rate exceeds 10 percent or where there aren’t enough jobs to go around.⁷ A waiver suspends the ABAWD time limit only; the general SNAP work requirements still apply.⁸ Ask your state SNAP agency whether your county or region has one.

States also get a limited pool of discretionary exemptions they can apply to individual ABAWDs facing serious barriers to employment who don’t fit a formal exemption category. The Fiscal Responsibility Act cut the annual allocation from 12 percent of a state’s ABAWD caseload to 8 percent, and starting in fiscal year 2026, states can carry over only unused exemptions from the single prior year rather than accumulating them indefinitely. These aren’t automatic. Ask your caseworker directly whether one can be applied to your case.

Getting Benefits Back After a Cutoff

If you’ve exhausted your three countable months, there are two ways back. The faster one is completing 80 hours of qualifying work or program participation within a single 30-day period. Once your state verifies the hours, your eligibility restarts for the rest of the 36-month window, as long as you keep meeting the monthly requirement. Fall short again and benefits stop again.¹

The slower path is waiting for the 36-month window to reset. When it does, you get a fresh three countable months. That can mean going months without food assistance while the clock runs out.

If your circumstances change and you now qualify for an exemption — you become pregnant, receive a disability certification, or move in with a child under 14 — you can regain eligibility right away by giving your state agency proof. Don’t wait for your next recertification. Contact your caseworker as soon as the change happens.

A Note for College Students

Being in school doesn’t satisfy the ABAWD rules on its own. Students enrolled at least half-time in higher education face a separate set of SNAP eligibility rules that require meeting a specific student exemption, such as working 20 or more hours a week, participating in federal work-study, or being enrolled through SNAP Employment and Training or a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act program. A full-time student who meets no student exemption may not be eligible for SNAP at all. And if you are eligible as a student, your coursework doesn’t count toward the 80 hours. You still need work or approved program participation each month to keep the three-month clock from running.

1
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Work Requirements
2
Congress.gov. H.R. 3746 – Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023
3
eCFR. 7 CFR 273.24 – Time Limit for Able-Bodied Adults
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 2015 – Eligibility Disqualifications
5
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP OBBB ABAWD Exceptions Implementation
6
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 – Questions and Answers
7
Food and Nutrition Service. ABAWD Waivers
8
Food and Nutrition Service. ABAWD Waivers FY 2025-2029