There is an increasing understanding of how poverty can impact children’s development and create persistent gaps between children raised in poverty and their higher-income peers. Early childhood programs do much to support young children by providing a variety of vital services to stabilize families, but stability is tenuous for families living persistently in poverty. Numerous innovative early childhood programs are now focusing on promoting parental economic mobility and working alongside families to build skills and promote their attainment of bigger goals. This EMPath paper presents the importance to early childhood programs, particularly those whose mission is to support children living in poverty, of integrating economic mobility coaching for parents to strengthen outcomes for kids.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey estimates that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience intimate partner violence in their lifetimes. Survivors of gender-based violence often face multiple barriers to employment, including limited skills, gaps in their education and work histories, housing instability, and mental health and substance use needs. Urban Institute conducted an evaluation of the Career Readiness Training Program, Sanctuary for Families’ workforce development program in New York City designed specifically for domestic violence survivors. This Urban Institute report explores the findings of the evaluation – for example, after completing the program, clients were more successful in overcoming critical barriers to employment such as low self-esteem, gaining employment, and improving financial self-sufficiency.

The U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau protects the interests of working women, advocates for their equality and economic security, and promotes quality work environments. The Women’s Bureau is hosting a virtual event on June 28, 2023, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. Participants will learn about innovative public and private partnerships with employers to support childcare needs, as well as federal resources to build stronger investments in childcare supply and access.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Hunger Clearinghouse aids low-income individuals or communities by providing food assistance and other nutrition and social services information. The clearinghouse is accessible by phone and text.

Most families and individuals who meet the program’s income guidelines are eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program). The size of a family’s SNAP benefit is based on its income and certain expenses. This paper provides a short summary of SNAP eligibility and benefit calculation rules that are in effect for federal fiscal year 2023, which began in October 2022.

Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) had the authority to grant certain programmatic waivers to state agencies that administer the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). FNS issued waivers to provide flexibilities to requirements that could not be met as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and support continued access to WIC services. When this waiver authority ended on September 30, 2021, FNS had approved 16 types of WIC waivers and 831 individual waiver requests across the 89 WIC state agencies. This report summarizes details on the use and impact of these waivers.

The federal government currently has five primary programs designed to feed school-age children: the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), the School Breakfast Program (SBP), the Child and Adult Care Food Program, the Seamless Summer Option, and the Summer Food Service Program. Each program has distinct meal costs, eligibility requirements, and reimbursement processes for the meals served. While all public schools have the option to participate in each of these federal meal programs, they may choose to opt out of any of them. Recognizing the multitude of benefits for students, families, and schools, this report illustrates how five states—California, Maine, Colorado, Minnesota, and New Mexico—have acted to independently serve free school meals for all students. In the absence of continued federal investment, this strategy is essential for ensuring that students are well fed and ready to learn during the school day.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, reaching 38 million people nationwide in 2019 alone. These fact sheets provide state-by-state data on who participates in the SNAP program, the benefits they receive, and SNAP’s role in strengthening the economy.

These factsheets provide information on federal child nutrition programs at national and state levels. Datasets include national level data from FY1969-2022 which cover participation and meals served under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP); outlets and milk served under the Special Milk Program (SMP); program costs for NSLP, SBP, and SMP; participation, meals, and costs for the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); and participation, meals, and costs for the Summer Food Service Program. Datasets also include National Level Monthly Data for NSLP, SBP, and CACFP during FY2020-FY2023; historical State Level Tables for these programs during FY2018-2022; and State Level Tables with current year data. Data is available in .pdf and .xlsx formats.

Since 2011, Feeding America has conducted an annual Map the Meal Gap study to improve understanding of food insecurity and food costs at the local level. This study provides data with a focus on the extent and variation in local food insecurity levels in 2021. A strong public and private response to the COVID-19 crisis helped mitigate national food insecurity from rising significantly in 2020, and many of the response efforts continued at heightened levels into 2021. The result at the national level was a decline in food insecurity in 2021 for both the overall population and for children, with rates reaching the lowest levels on record. But the study also shows that food insecurity did not improve everywhere, and significant disparities continue to exist both within and across geographies.