Not enough to eat

With millions of Americans still not getting enough to eat during the COVID-19 crisis and recession, Congress’ return gives lawmakers the opportunity to boost SNAP (food stamps) and other nutrition benefits to help Americans put food on the table and help the economy recover. Their failure to provide significant nutrition assistance – similar to what the House included in the Heroes Act in May – in the days ahead would be unconscionable.

The Census’ Household Pulse Survey (collected over recent months and through late August) and other surveys reveal an ongoing and urgent crisis, with millions struggling to pay for food, housing, and other basic needs.

About 10 percent of all adults reported that their household sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat in the last seven days, according to the latest data, collected August 19 through 31. The figures are even higher for Black and Latino adults, with 19 percent of Black and 17 percent of Latino adults reporting this hardship, compared to 7 percent of white adults. These disproportionate impacts reflect harsh, longstanding inequities, often stemming from structural racism. For example, Black and Latino people disproportionately work in low-paying industries with deep job losses during the recession.

Also alarming, the data show, 9 to 14 percent of adults with children reported that their children sometimes or often didn’t eat enough in the last seven days because they couldn’t afford it, and that translates into millions of children. As we’ve written, children not getting enough to eat is especially concerning because it can lead to worse developmental, health, and even economic outcomes for them down the road. (Note that the most recent Pulse survey results are not comparable to data from prior weeks due to some methodological issues.)

We can see how much higher these figures are than before COVID-19 thanks to similar questions in the Household Pulse and annual food insecurity data for 2019, which the Agriculture Department (USDA) released this week.

About 3.7 percent of adults reported that their household had “not enough to eat” sometimes or often in the 12 months of 2019, CBPP analysis of these USDA data show, compared to about 10 percent of adults reporting this problem in the past week in the August Household Pulse data. Similarly, about 1 percent of adults with children in the 2019 USDA data reported that children were sometimes or often not eating enough at some point in the last 30 days, compared to up to 14 percent reporting this problem within the last seven days in the Pulse data.

While differences between the surveys make precise comparisons hard, similar questions in both surveys offer the best comparison point available between pre-pandemic and current conditions.

Excerpted from: ‘Food Need Very High Compared to Pre-Pandemic Levels, Making Relief Imperative’

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