Hunger and Poverty Facts
Listen: Bread's 2012 Hunger Report
Hunger
- 14.5 percent of U.S. households struggle to put enough food on the table. More than 48 million Americans—including 16.2 million children—live in these households.
Source: Household Food Security in the United States, 2010. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2011. (Table 1A, Table 1B) - More than one in five children is at risk of hunger. Among African-Americans and Latinos, nearly one in three children is at risk of hunger.
Source: Household Food Security in the United States, 2010. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2011. (Table 1B, Table 3).
Child Nutrition
- Of the more than 20 million children who receive free or reduced-price lunch each school day, less than half receive breakfast and only 10 percent access summer feeding sites.
Source: FY2010 Program Data. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. - For every 100 school lunch programs, there are only 87 breakfast sites and just 36 summer food program sites.
Source: FY2010 Program Data. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- About half of all American children will receive SNAP benefits at some point before age 20. Among African-American children, 90 percent will enroll in SNAP before age 20.
Source: “Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment During Childhood,” Archives of Pediatric and adolescent Medicine, Vul. 163 (No.11). November 2009. - One in seven people are enrolled in SNAP. Nearly half are children.
Sources: Monthly Program Data for October 2011. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2010. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, September 2011. - SNAP participation nearly doubled pre-recession levels, an increase of 18 million people.
Source: Monthly Program Data comparing July 2011 and November 2007. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. - More than 90 percent of SNAP benefits are used up by the third week of the month.
Source: An Analysis of Food Stamp Benefit Redemption Patterns, Figure 4. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, June 2006.
Women, Infants and Children Program (WIC)
- One in every two babies born in the United States is enrolled in WIC.
Sources: Births: Preliminary Data for 2009. National Vital Statistics Reports, Vul. 59, No. 3, December 2010. Annual Program Data for 2008. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. - Although 81.3 percent of eligible infants are enrolled in WIC, the program reaches just 47.3 percent of eligible children ages 1 to 4.
Source: WIC Eligibles and Coverage, 1994 to 2007: Estimates of the Population of Women, Infants and Children Eligible for WIC Benefits. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, September 2009. (Table 3).
Food Spending
- Low-income households already spend a greater share of their income on food. Food accounts for 16.4 percent of spending for households making less than $10,000 per year compared to the U.S. average of 12.7 percent.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2006.
Obesity/Nutrition
- Participation in federal nutrition programs reduces the risk of girls becoming overweight by increasing access to an adequate, nutritious diet. School-aged girls enrolled in SNAP, school lunch, and school breakfast programs are 68 percent less likely to be overweight than food-insecure girls who do not participate in the programs.
Source: Lower Risk of Overweight in School-aged Food-Insecure Girls Who Participate in Food Assistance. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Vul. 157, No. 8, pp. 780-784, August 2003.
Poverty
More than one in seven people in the United States lives below the poverty line, which is $22,113 for a family of four in 2010. More than one in five children in the United States lives below the poverty line. Source: 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplements from the Current Population Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, 2011.
- Most Americans (51.4 percent) will live in poverty at some point before age 65.
Source: Urban Institute, Transitioning In and Out of Poverty, 2007. - 65 percent of low-income families have at least one working family member, and 79 percent of single mothers who head households work.
Source: Income, Earnings, and Poverty data from the 2010 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, 2011. - In most areas, a family of four needs to earn twice the poverty line to provide children with basic necessities.
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty, Budgeting for Basic Needs, March 2009. - Nationally, more than 44 percent of children live in low-income working families (families who earn less than twice the poverty line).
Source: Income, Earnings, and Poverty data from the 2010 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, 2011. - A person working full-time at the minimum wage earns about $14,500 a year. The official poverty line for a family of three—one parent with two children—is $17,568.
Spotlight: Hunger and Poverty among African Americans
Did you know? One in four African Americans lives below the federal poverty line, compared to about one in eight Americans overall.Email Signup
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