A new Brookings Institute survey found among mothers with young children, nearly one-fifth say their children are not getting enough to eat during this pandemic, a rate three times as high as in 2008, during the worst of the Great Recession. This should be deeply concerning to all of us—especially our elected leaders in Washington, D.C.
In the next COVID-19 relief package, Congress must guarantee that anyone who needs nutrition assistance is able to access it and increase benefits to better serve struggling families. They can do this by boosting the maximum Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamp) benefit nationwide, raising the minimum benefit to $ 30/month, and removing the barriers to access to nutrition assistance put in place by the Trump Administration. These are all no-brainers as the pandemic continues, unemployment rates soar, and our economy runs on fumes.
Leaders concerned about the economy should focus on SNAP. Its benefits are one of the fastest, most effective forms of economic stimulus because they get money into the economy very quickly. This is the type of relief that struggling families and our struggling economy needs now!
Families are struggling to pay all their bills and still put food on the table.
Prior to COVID-19, American families were struggling with food insecurity with 1 in 9 Americans, including 11 million children, struggling with hunger. The pandemic has only made this situation worse
Tamara Culbertson, Fawn Grove