Work Requirements: What Are They? Do They Work?
A research brief explaining how work requirements in programs like Medicaid and SNAP reduce coverage, increase administrative costs, and push eligible people deeper into poverty without improving employment outcomes.
This brief outlines decades of evidence showing that work requirements do not increase employment but instead create red tape that causes millions of eligible people—most of whom already work—to lose health insurance or nutrition benefits.
It describes how states that implemented such policies saw high coverage losses, significant administrative spending, and worse health and financial outcomes, particularly for people with disabilities. The report concludes that work requirements are ineffective, costly, and harmful, and highlights alternative policies that actually support employment and family stability.Â
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