Children, employed adults and seniors in Virginia have struggled to put food on their tables for several years in large part due to the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit and universal school meals.
According to a data analysis by Hunger Free America, more than 773,000 Virginians lived in food insecure households from 2020-2022.
Across Virginia, 9.2 percent of residents lived in food insecure households including:
- 11.7 percent of children in the state (218,840)
- 7.4 percent of employed adults (303,247)
- 7 percent of older residents (140,005)
Many federal benefit increases have either gone away entirely, or are being ramped down, even as prices for food, rent, healthcare and fuel continue to rise, according to Hunger Free America.
“Our report demonstrates child and adult hunger are serious problems in rural, urban and suburban areas of all 50 states,” said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America. “This report should be a jarring wake up call for federal, state and local leaders.”
Hunger Free America also compiled the most recent nonparticipation rates for SNAP, WIC and school breakfast programs by state:
- In Virginia, 27 percent of individuals eligible for SNAP were not receiving SNAP in 2018.
- WIC had the highest rate of nonparticipation, with 51 percent of eligible individuals in the state not receiving WIC in 2021.
- School breakfast also had a high nonparticipation rate, with 43 percent of children who receive school lunch in Virginia not receiving school breakfast during the 2021-2022 school year.
“Effective federal public policies over the previous few years were spectacularly successful in stemming U.S. hunger, but as many of those policies have been reversed, hunger has again soared,” said Berg.
“At exactly the moment when so many Americans are in desperate need of relief, many of the federally funded benefits increases, such as the Child Tax Credit and universal school meals, have expired, due mostly to opposition from conservatives in Congress.
“Just as no one should be surprised if drought increases when water is taken away, no one should be shocked that when the government takes away food, as well as money to buy food, hunger rises.
“Our political leaders must act to raise wages and provide a strong safety net, so we can finally end U.S. hunger and ensure that all Americans have access to adequate, healthy food.”
More findings from the report
- 15.8 percent of children in the U.S. lived in food insecure households in the 2020-2022 time period.
- 9.1 percent of employed adults in the U.S. lived in food insecure households during the three-year time period.
- 7.6 percent of older Americans in the U.S., defined as people 60 years and older, lived in food insecure households.
The report includes detailed public policy recommendations at the federal level, including passage of the HOPE Act of 2021, reauthorization of the Child Tax Credit, which raised millions of families out of poverty and immediately fully funding the WIC program for pregnant women, infants, and children under five, including maintaining increased allotments for fruit and vegetable purchases.
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Crystal Graham
