Title page
Contents
Abstract 3
Acknowledgments 3
Summary 5
Introduction 7
USDA Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy Changes in FYs 2020-22 9
Total Food and Nutrition Assistance Spending 10
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) 12
Growth in Online SNAP Purchasing in FYs 2020-23 16
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) 17
Child Nutrition Programs 18
State Universal Free School Meal Policies 21
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) 22
USDA, Economic Research Service Report Summary: Prevalence of Food Insecurity 23
Economic and Social Indicators Related to Participation in Food and Nutrition Assistance Programs 26
USDA, Economic Research Service Research Update 28
Report Summary: Cost of School Meals and Households' Difficulty Paying for Expenses: Evidence From the Household Pulse Survey 29
References 31
Table 1. USDA food and nutrition assistance at a glance, fiscal years 2022 and 2023 11
Table 2. U.S. food security at a glance, 2021-22 25
Table 3. Selected economic and demographic indicators, 2020-23 28
Figure 1. Timeline of Federal food assistance policy changes, fiscal year 2023 8
Figure 2. Inflation-adjusted USDA spending on food and nutrition assistance, fiscal years 1970-2023 12
Figure 3. Monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending on regular benefits and disaster supplements, fiscal years 2020-23 14
Figure 4. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) average monthly participation and inflation-adjusted annual program spending, fiscal years 2000-23 15
Figure 5. Average monthly participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) by group, fiscal years 1974-2023 18
Figure 6. Total meals served and total inflation-adjusted spending across the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care... 20
Figure 7. Total reported Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) spending, March 2020-September 2023 23
Figure 8. U.S. households by food security status, 2022 25
Figure 9. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation, unemployment, and poverty rates, 1980-2023 26
Figure 10. Share reporting that paying for school meals made it difficult to pay for other expenses among households with children aged 5-17 that reported... 30