Parents of 14+ Work Requirement: New Exemption Rules

What "caretaker" meant under the old rule

Pre-OBBBA, the SNAP caretaker exemption from the ABAWD work requirement applied to any household member who was caring for a "dependent child" living in the household. "Dependent child" meant a child under age 18 (or under age 22 if the child was a student in an institution of higher education).

The exemption was straightforward to claim: you listed the child on your SNAP application along with their birth date and relationship to you, and the caseworker applied the exemption automatically. No special form was required in most states.

What changed in October 2025

OBBBA narrowed the dependent-child age in the caretaker exemption from under-18 to under-14. The rationale offered by the bill's sponsors was that "teenagers do not require the level of daily care that younger children do, and parents of teens are typically able to work."

The practical effect: a single parent whose youngest child is 14, 15, 16, or 17 now must meet the ABAWD work requirement personally. If they can't reach 80 hours of work or qualifying program participation each month, they get a 3-month grace period and then lose SNAP for the remainder of a 36-month window.

Who is affected

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates 400,000 to 600,000 SNAP-recipient parents lost the exemption when OBBBA took effect. The demographic patterns:

• Single parents: About 80% of affected parents are single (CBPP analysis of SIPP data). Two-parent households often have at least one wage earner already meeting the work requirement.
• Mothers: Roughly 75% of affected single parents are women.
• Working part-time: A majority of affected parents are already working but under 80 hours per month — typically school-hours retail, food service, or home-based caregiving work where matching teen schedules limits hours.
• In states without strong childcare subsidies for teens: Teens don't qualify for most subsidized childcare, but younger teens still need supervision before/after school. Parents in states with thin youth-programming infrastructure have fewer options to increase work hours.

Exemptions that still apply if your child is 14-17

You're still exempt from the ABAWD work requirement if any of these apply (these are independent of the parental exemption):

• Your child has a disability or medical condition that requires your supervision. The standard for the medical exemption is whether you can maintain employment, not the child's age. A doctor's letter confirming that the child requires continuous adult supervision (and that the parent is the primary caregiver) is sufficient in most states.
• You yourself have a medical condition limiting work. The same medical exemption that applies to all ABAWDs.
• You're pregnant. Exempt for the pregnancy and the postpartum period.
• You're caring for an incapacitated adult household member.
• You're working or in a qualifying program at 80+ hours per month. Meets the requirement directly — no exemption needed.
• You live in a USDA-waived county. Check your county on the by-state page.
• You receive unemployment insurance, disability, or veterans benefits.
• You're a half-time-plus student.

How to claim the medical-supervision exemption for a teen

The most common winning approach for parents of teens 14-17 is the medical-supervision exemption. If your teenager has any of these conditions, ask the treating clinician for a letter stating that they require parental supervision and that you are the primary caregiver:

• Autism spectrum disorder (any level)
• ADHD with prescribed medication that requires monitoring
• Diabetes (Type 1 in particular, but also Type 2 with insulin)
• Severe asthma or other chronic respiratory conditions
• Epilepsy or seizure disorders
• Anxiety, depression, or other mental health conditions requiring active treatment
• Recovery from any surgery or hospitalization in the past 12 months
• Eating disorders
• Substance use disorder
• Any chronic condition requiring daily medication or treatment routines

The clinician doesn't need to argue that the teen is incapacitated. The standard is whether the parent's presence/supervision is needed at home such that full-time-equivalent work isn't feasible. Pediatricians, child psychiatrists, and family physicians regularly write these letters.

How to claim the parent's own medical exemption

If the parent has a condition that limits work — even if the teen is healthy — the parent's medical exemption applies. Many parents in their 40s and 50s have chronic conditions (back pain, fibromyalgia, autoimmune disorders, depression, anxiety) that don't qualify for disability but do limit how many hours they can work. The bar for the SNAP medical exemption is lower than for SSDI: the clinician just needs to certify that work is limited.

If your SNAP was already terminated

Same process as any ABAWD termination: 90-day federal appeal window, 10-day window for continued benefits during appeal. The lost-benefits triage walks through the timing. The most successful appeals for parents of teens combine: (a) a medical letter (for parent or teen), (b) documentation of part-time work hours below 80/month, and (c) a written narrative explaining why getting to 80 hours is impractical given the supervision needs.