As Schools Shut Down, a New Federal Program Eased Child Hunger, Study Finds

WASHINGTON — An emergency federal program created in March to offset the loss of school meals led to substantial short-term reductions in child hunger, according to a new analysis of census data by the Brookings Institution.

As the coronavirus pandemic closed the nation’s schools, the program, Pandemic-EBT, aimed to help the 30 million children who rely on subsidized breakfasts and lunches, an often-overlooked part of the American safety net. The program distributed lump-sum payments equal to $5.70 for each lost school day, or roughly $300 per eligible child in a typical state.

In the week after each state issued its payments, child hunger fell by about 30 percent, the researchers found, reducing the number of hungry children by at least 2.7 million.

“That’s a large reduction, from a rate that was disturbingly high,” said Lauren Bauer, a Brookings researcher who was one of four co-authors on the study. It is not clear how long the reduction lasted.