16 Million Older Americans are Not Claiming Their Food Benefits, AARP Reports

As food insecurity and hunger rates rise, SNAP benefits are going unused

Emily Paulin,

Updated April 10, 2025

AARP

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Published April 04, 2025

/ Updated April 10, 2025

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Nearly 60 percent of low-income older adults who qualify for federal food assistance aren’t using it, according to a new analysis by AARP’s Public Policy Institute. Some 16 million — or 59 percent — of adults 50-plus who could get help paying for food through the U.S. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in 2022 did not claim it.

“Millions of older adults are missing out on benefits that could have a big impact on their livelihood,” says AARP’s Olivia Dean, senior policy advisor and co-author of the report published March 28.

Roughly 1 in 10 older adults are food insecure, meaning they have limited access to adequate, nutritious food due to financial constraints. Research links food insecurity to poorer health outcomes, including higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, asthma, gum disease, depression and other illnesses in adults 60 and older.

SNAP, which is federally funded but administered by states and sometimes counties, aims to reduce food insecurity and increase the purchase of nutritious foods by providing many low-income people and families with financial assistance.

But AARP’s report found that most adults ages 50 and older who were eligible for SNAP in 2022 did not participate in the program, and people ages 60 and older participated at particularly low rates. While most older adults skipping their benefits would be eligible for just the minimum SNAP allowance of about $20 a month in 2022, one in five may be missing out on benefits of over $300 a month, the report found.

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Meanwhile, food insecurity among older adults has been rising. In 2023, 10.4 percent of Americans ages 50 and older, or 12.6 million, were food insecure, according to AARP Public Policy Institute’s analysis of Current Population Survey data. The rate jumped from 9.8 percent in 2022 and 7.9 percent in 2021 and represents the highest rate in nearly a decade.

Removing barriers that may prevent those 16 million older adults from enrolling in SNAP — including burdensome application processes, stigmas associated with food allowances, or the perception of low benefit amounts not being worth the trouble — is, therefore, critical, Dean says.

“These findings point to the need for targeted education and outreach about the program, as well as efforts at the federal and state levels to make it easier for older adults to access SNAP,” she says.

60-plus adults dominate group missing out

AARP’s analysis set out to better understand which older adults were eligible for SNAP but not enrolled and what benefits they’re not receiving, says AARP’s Dean. “Understanding their characteristics is important for addressing the low program enrollment,” she says.

The report uses state-specific SNAP eligibility rules to determine who qualified, rather than just federal eligibility standards, to provide a more accurate picture of the total number of people eligible for the program, Dean says. AARP partnered with research group Mathematica to do the analysis.

People ages 60 and older participated in SNAP at particularly low rates in 2022, the research found. Of the 16 million people identified who were not claiming their allowances, most — 14 million — were ages 60 and older. Only 1.9 million were ages 50 to 59.

Older adults who didn’t claim their benefits were more likely to live in a multi-person, higher-income (though still overall low-income) household compared to the older adults who did claim in 2022, the report found. Fifty-five percent of the 16 million nonparticipants were eligible for the minimum benefit of $20 a month in 2022.

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Having just $20 loaded onto their SNAP benefits card each month may be a key reason why older adults don’t enroll in program, particularly when the process to get that $20 can be time-consuming and condescending, which many older adults report. “The average meal cost in the United States was estimated to be $3.99 in 2022, so the minimum monthly SNAP benefit would have covered just five individual meals,” our report explains.

“SNAP benefits should be meaningful,” the co-authors wrote. “Policymakers should continually work to ensure the adequacy of benefit allotments, including minimum and maximum amounts, which could improve access to SNAP for older adults and improve food security.”

While most of those older adults who didn’t claim their benefits were only eligible for the minimum benefit amount, we also found that 3.3 million of those not claiming — a “sizable minority” — were likely in households eligible for much more support: more than $300 per month.

“The fact that one-fifth of older nonparticipants are missing out on substantial benefits could mean that some are unaware of the benefit level they could receive and/or face barriers to applying, such as concerns that they will face a burdensome application process,” the report states.

Outreach efforts should be targeted at all eligible older nonparticipants, but the most effective outreach may be directed at those with the lowest incomes. “They might be more motivated than people with higher incomes to participate in the program, and enrolling could make a significant difference in their health and economic well-being,” the report suggests.

AARP is advocating to protect SNAP

AARP’s analysis comes at a critical time, with SNAP funding under threat amid federal budget negotiations in Congress. Lawmakers have not announced specific funding cuts to SNAP, but budget committees are searching for ways to help offset the cost of the Trump Administration’s proposed tax cuts.

On March 6, we sent letters to the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry and the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture emphasizing the program's importance for older adults. We pointed to research showing that SNAP participation is linked to reduced healthcare costs, hospital and emergency room visits, and nursing home admissions.

“The program provides modest support to help meet basic nutritional needs, which in turn can support improved health outcomes and help people maintain independence as they age,” wrote Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs. “In short, SNAP is a sound investment.”

AARP’s report “emphasizes that there are already barriers to accessing SNAP and it’s important to be working to reduce those barriers rather than making it harder for people to access the program,” Dean says. Unofficial proposals swirling, such as eliminating broad-based categorical eligibility in SNAP, could make it harder to access the program.

Read AARP’s full analysis and learn more about SNAP, who qualifies and how to apply.

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Emily Paulin is an editor at aarp.org who covers nursing homes, health care, and federal and state policy. Her work has also appeared in Broadsheet, an Australian lifestyle publication.