This study focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic-related experiences of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic families with young children (birth to age 5) and low incomes. Families with low incomes were overrepresented among the unemployed populations in most U.S. metropolitan areas, and a higher percentage of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic workers with low incomes were displaced for More
The COVID-19 pandemic took a severe toll on the U.S. economy as the public health crisis triggered steep job losses, business and school closures, supply backlogs, and rising inflation and rent. Households with low incomes were already rent-burdened before the pandemic and the pandemic’s economic fallout further exacerbated existing conditions. Higher rent and income loss More
The U.S. Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides tiered reimbursements for healthy foods for children at participating family childcare homes (FCCH). All FCCHs received a higher rate to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was administered in the spring of 2023 to a randomly selected sample of licensed California FCCHs More
Recent cash-value benefit (CVB) increases are a positive development to help increase WIC participant fruits and vegetables (FV) access. This mixed method study aimed to evaluate (a) the CVB changes’ impact on FV access among WIC child participants measured by CVB redemption rates, (b) facilitators and barriers to CVB changes’ implementation, and (c) differences in More
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, USDA waivers allowed all children in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to receive school meals at no charge from March 2020 through June 2022. In 2022, Massachusetts implemented a Healthy School Meals for All (HSMFA) policy to continue to provide meals at no charge to all More
The U.S. safety net, which provides critical aid to households with low income, is composed of a patchwork of separate programs, and many people with low income benefit from accessing <1 program. However, little is known about multiprogram take-up, that is, participation conditioned on eligibility. This study examined individual and multiprogram take-up patterns and sociodemographic More
The Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition was funded by Healthy Eating Research to conduct a study exploring how the policy changes in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) cash value benefit (CVB), or fruit and vegetable money, during the pandemic impacted the WIC program and child access to fruits and More
Food insecurity puts people at risk for many poor physical and mental health outcomes. Food insecurity stayed stable during much of the COVID-19 pandemic but rose significantly from 2021-2022 among U.S. households with children. Many federal supports were offered during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included expansions in food assistance programs like SNAP, as well as More
Safety-net programs in the United States offered critical support to counter food insecurity and poverty during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are both means-tested programs with significant benefits. Take-up of SNAP and EITC is lower in California than nationwide and More
Although consumers used online grocery shopping more frequently to limit exposure to the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic, the participants of some federal nutrition assistance programs lacked the option to redeem their food benefits online. Some retailers were pilot-testing online food benefit ordering for the participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, More
Newsletter
Contact
