A Feminist Lens: The Big Beautiful Bill’s Effect on SNAP Recipients
Introduction
Author: Emma Morales
Department: Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE)
Advisor:Dr. Joseph K. Hoereth, IPCE,
Alexander Diaz, Graduate Assistant, IPCE
Abstract: The government’s 2025 Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) is projected to affect 22.3 million Americans who depend on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The BBB raises work requirements for adults, lowers the age threshold for parents required to meet these mandates, increases state financial responsibility, and reduces federal contributions. These changes are projected to cut benefits for hundreds of thousands of households and significantly tighten eligibility. As a result, BBB poses a threat to women and their children as they are seen as providers of food for their families, particularly low-income mothers, pregnant women, and women of color. This research focuses specifically on how these SNAP restrictions under the BBB affect women’s nutritional stability, economic security, and access to community food resources in both national and Chicago-based contexts.
Looking deeper into the analysis through a literature review lens spanning 1999—2025, women are more likely to apply for SNAP. This could be due to a lower barrier to entry stemming from gendered expectations about social benefits for women compared to their male counterparts. Overall, the BBB has an aversive effect on all families that use social safety nets to secure food and economic relief. Right after Congress passed the BBB, local food pantries in Chicago stated they were preparing for increased demand that would strain their emergency food supplies, which are not sustainable in the long term. The cuts to SNAP create additional difficulties for the 360,000 Illinois residents who use it. Some of whom use SNAP to overcome starvation in their own homes and communities. Especially women who rely on food aid to support their families. Which is why we should focus on grant programs that allow food pantries to thrive under economic pressure.
Some limitations around this research include that the study may be conducted too early to accurately determine long-term trends or future shifts in social stigmatization
Keywords: Big Beautiful Bill, SNAP, Gender, Low Income, Financial Management, policy, Stigma, food insecurity, food pantries