Hunger and Food Assistance

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides supplemental nutritious foods, nutrition education, and referrals to other health, welfare, and social services. WIC eligibility is restricted to infants, children age 1 through 4, and pregnant and postpartum women who are either income or adjunctively eligible.

This project extends WIC national eligibility estimates to single years of age for children, produces estimates for each State and the District of Columbia, and updates methods for estimating eligibility in the territories. The project also implemented calculation of standard errors of estimate for national, regional, State, and Puerto Rico estimates.

Human services programs-the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, subsidized child care, etc.-and their clients can benefit from national health reform. Millions of low-income health coverage applicants can be connected with human services programs, as the latter programs: (a) help health programs efficiently reach eligible consumers; (b) access unprecedented, time-limited federal funding for modernizing eligibility computer systems while limiting risks to current funding; (c) keep social services offices available as an avenue for seeking health coverage; and (d) use a forthcoming Medicaid expansion to accomplish core human services goals related to employment and child development.

For households headed by persons with disabilities, savings can provide near-term protection against hardship. Analysis of longitudinal data from the 2001 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation indicates that households with $2,000 or more in liquid assets (interest-earning assets held at financial institutions) are better able to avoid subsequent hardships such as forgone doctor visits and missed utility payments, compared to those with smaller (or no) asset holdings. This evidence has implications for possible increases in the resource limits for the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, now $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.

In the third installment of a special series on “The New Unemployment and What to Do About It,” a panel of experts will examine how safety net programs -- such as welfare, food stamps, disability insurance, and child support -- have worked generally and for these subgroups when jobs are scarce. They will also explore how to retool the safety net before the next economic downturn.

While a surprisingly small share of low-income older adults receives government nutrition assistance, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and Meals on Wheels (MOW) home delivery program provide important food assistance to them. During 2007 and 2008, about 2 in 10 low-income older adults received assistance from one of these programs; only 1 percent reported getting help from both. Receipt of SNAP declines with age and receipt of MOW rises with age, indicating that these programs tend to complement each other.

Last year, 14 million children (1 in 5 children in the United States) lived in a family that used emergency food assistance through Feeding America, the nation's largest network of emergency food providers. Hispanic and black children received help at rates about triple that of white children, reflecting greater poverty rates for minorities.Hispanic Heritage Month offers a fitting opportunity to examine the economic status of Hispanic children. This forum will examine economic need among Hispanic families, the role of private food assistance in supplementing the government's nutrition safety net, and ways to increase income and reduce food insecurity during this recession and beyond.

In 2009, nearly 1 in every 5 children in the United States lived in families that used emergency food assistance through Feeding America, the nation's largest organization of emergency food providers. Higher shares of Hispanic and black children used emergency food assistance than white children, reflecting their higher rates of poverty. While the majority of families using emergency food assistance also accessed at least one of the federal nutrition assistance programs, only one in four received food stamps. The high demand for private food assistance demonstrates the extreme need in 2009 caused by high unemployment and poverty.

Families that use emergency food assistance often also get help from federal nutrition programs. Hispanic families less often receive help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps) than families of other racial/ethnic groups placing them at greater nutritional risk. Families that do not receive SNAP benefits often think that their income, assets or citizenship status makes them ineligible. The broad use of food banks and pantries among low-income families with children demonstrates unmet nutritional needs and confirms that enhancements to the federal nutrition safety net are needed.