The shutdown will halt about $8 billion a month in federal food assistance. Walmart captures 24% of all SNAP shopper spending, according to Numerator’s 2025 SNAP Evolution report—triple Kroger’s share and far ahead of Costco, Amazon and Sam’s Club.
Walmart was the first retailer to accept SNAP online in all 50 states in 2023 and launched the Walmart+ Assist program, which offers half-price memberships for those receiving aid.
“If SNAP payments stop, spending by the lowest income groups will fall,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of data and analytics firm GlobalData. “Walmart gets a plurality of the spending, so it will be hit the hardest.”
This was somewhat epiphanic for me.
I already recognized companies such as Walmart were subsidizing pay through social programs such as SNAP and essential funneling/laundering tax payer money to their executives.
This headline made me further realize they’re not only making taxpayers subsidize wages, they’ve also effectively turned the USD into a form of company scrip. While that scrip can be spent at some other locations I bet a large percent of funneled right back to e.g. Walmart itself. If you already work at Walmart it makes spending your SNAP benefit there easier.
Walmart gets financed via gov SNAP on two fronts - they sell stuff (for profit) for gov SNAPs, & their employees’ wages have to get subsidized by gov SNAP (for their profit).
Also only the stores net 20bn a year to the family (& other shareholders), so it’s a shame we are talking about them losing 2bn (over two full months) and not their full-time workers going hungry.
Also the SNAP program is 100bn annually (for 40m people) & 25bn~28bn of it gets spent in Walmart stores (their total revenue is about 680bn & they employ 2m underpaid workers).
Here is a perhaps more informative link:
https://www.newsweek.com/walmart-set-to-lose-billions-from-snap-benefits-stopping-in-november-10945862
Tbh the vast majority of people that work at walmart are probably paid above SNAP qualifying wages, unless someone has kids and their spouse doesnt work or is severely underpaid. When I worked for walmart stocking shelves they were paying $18.75 in that market. Daytime people made like $17.25 without the overnight differential. That is well over the limit to get SNAP for a single person. Plus they do offer pretty good benefits, and gave accrued PTO. And a humane break system that is standardized even in states where they dont have to offer it. I realize they dont pay as much in other markets, but they are generally above the average starting wage in any given area.
Most smaller companies I ever worked for were significantly shittier in how they treated/paid workers than Walmart is. Walmart is honestly too soul crushing of a place to work; without them offering half decent shit to work there literally nobody would
Yeah, that sounds about right.
I only found this 2020 paper (but includes medicare too): https://www.gao.gov/assets/d2145.pdf
And that statistics of 15k employees in 9 of the States.
That makes sense. Based on the numbers there they average 1%-3% of their employees on SNAP in any given state. They legitimately arent paying people SNAP wages as many seem to believe