Does the 'Big Beautiful Bill' declare children self-sufficient at age eight, ineligible for food benefits and expected to work to support their family? No, that's not true: H.R.1, passed by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, would change work rules for parents. If passed by the Senate and signed into law unamended, it would require most parents receiving federal food aid to work 20 hours per week once their dependent child is 7 or older, instead of 18.
The claim originated with a May 25, 2025 YouTube video (archived here) on The Lincoln Project channel captioned "They've lowered the age of dependence from 18 to 7". It continues:
So now, if you have an eight-year-old child, it is the belief of this administration that that child is self-sufficient and could work and support the family, could be left alone, doesn't need food aid of any kind.
Here's what the Lincoln Project video looked like at the time this fact check was written:
(Source: YouTube.com screenshot by Lead Stories.)
With more than 99,000 views, the video of Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson has been re-posted in support of claims (getting 2 million views) that " ... assistance programs designed to help children will no longer include 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13...year olds."
But, that's not what the bill says.
Federal law as of May, 2025, requires parents to work once their dependent turns 18 in order to receive federally funded food assistance. The bill approved by the House would require those parents to work once their children are 7.
Passed on a party-line vote May 22, 2025, H.R. 1 is a 1,038-page bill officially named the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act". Republicans wrote it to force a single vote on Donald Trump's domestic policy agenda and budget goals.
The graphic below shows the relevant section of existing law on the left and the proposed change on the right:
(Source: Congress.gov and Govinfo.gov screenshots highlighted and placed into graphic format by Lead Stories.)
At the time this fact check was written, the Senate had not begun formal hearings on the bill.
The Lincoln Project is a political action committee for Republicans that oppose Donald Trump and his political agenda.
Readers will find more Lead Stories fact checks about H.R.1 here.
