Skip to main content

The Effect of Pandemic EBT on Measures of Food Hardship

In the spring of 2020, 55 million school-age children were not in school and tens of millions lost access to school-based nutrition assistance programs. To alleviate the effects of lost daily school meals and to help households with children meet their nutritional needs, Congress authorized a new program, Pandemic EBT, which provides families with a voucher to purchase groceries for an amount equal in value to the school meals missed from the start of school closures to the end of the 2019–20 school year. We find that Pandemic EBT reduced food hardship experienced by low-income families with children and lifted at least 2.7-3.9 million children out of hunger.

Report from The Hamilton Project by Lauren Bauer, Abigail Pitts, Krista Ruffini, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Read the full fact sheet

More News

Extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Will Further Solidify An Unequal Federal Income Tax Structure for Generations

A new report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) predicts that making permanent the temporary provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will cost nearly $290 billion in 2026. H.R. 976, the…

Arizona’s New Budget Will Improve the Lives of Many. Only Time Will Tell If It Provides Budget Stability.

The new state budget brings a ray of positivity for countless Arizonans, with numerous aspects to appreciate. There’s increased funding for university scholarships, an expansion of KidsCare, and even a tax rebate, all...

Arizona's Voters Deserve a Say in the State's Budget

The voices of voters are once again being silenced. After several moves that are undemocratic, lacking in transparency and clearly an attempt to rush through billions of dollars of taxpayer money with almost zero input from…