Will Social Security or Food Stamps Be Affected by the Thanksgiving Holiday?
Written by
Georgina Tzanetos
Edited by
Cory Dudak
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Due to the upcoming holiday, some Social Security and SNAP recipients may notice benefit payments hitting on different days than expected. Payments are not typically distributed on federal holidays, which means the Thanksgiving holiday could potentially affect benefit payments.
Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday of November, and it hits on the 24th this year. To circumvent this and other potential problems with holidays, Social Security benefit payments are paid on the second, third or fourth Wednesday of each month, depending on your birthday.
If your payment date were to fall on a federal holiday, you would be paid immediately before the federal holiday.
Since Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, Social Security will not be impacted. However, the impact of the holiday on other benefits will depend on when you claimed benefits and where you live.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly still referred to as food stamps, will typically be deposited on the same day each month in most states, regardless of whether or not it falls on a weekend or a holiday. But other states may delay if it falls on a federal holiday.
For example Social Security offices are closed on Thanksgiving (Nov. 24) and Black Friday (Nov 25) this year. This means that if you were to apply for benefits or file a claim during the holiday weekend, they would not be processed until Monday evening, with payments issued Tuesday morning. There are noted exceptions, however, including if you had a pending appeal hearing scheduled for Nov. 25 in person. In that particular case, the hearing will still take place on the 25th.
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