America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers
Less Hunger in At-Risk Households During Pandemic Expansion of School Meals Program
Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) shows that in 2019, prior to the pandemic, roughly 33.2 million children received school meals, including about 21.3 million who received free school lunches.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States a year later, it disrupted many facets of life, including closing schools for many and jeopardizing access to school meals.
According to the Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS), roughly 20% of at-risk households with children reported being food insecure — defined as sometimes or often not having enough to eat — in the early weeks of the pandemic, when many schools were closed.
But as new policies were enacted in response to COVID-19, such as expanded eligibility for school lunch programs, food insecurity in households with children declined.
Continue reading to learn more about:
- New school meal policies during COVID
- Free meals for all changed who receives meals
- School meals still part of safety net
- Families benefit from program expansions
- About the data
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