The Effects of School Food Assistance on Children’s Food Sufficiency During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S

ABSTRACTThis study investigates the effects of school food assistance on children’s food sufficiency in the United States during the pandemic. We employed the Household Pulse Surveys (HPS) conducted by the United States Census Bureau and administered between July 21, 2021-May 9, 2022. Our outcome of interest is the household self-reported indicator of children’s food sufficiency in the last 7 days. The results show that the probability of children being food sufficient increased significantly by about 12%, 3%, 2%, and 10% among households who received school meals via School pickup, Pandemic-EBT, ate at school, and delivery at home, respectively. The effect of school food assistance on children’s food sufficiency across race and ethnic groups is mixed. While all school food assistance consistently impacts children’s food sufficiency levels among White, only school meals received via school pickup, eating on-site at school, and delivery at home impact children’s food sufficiency among Black. In contrast, only school meals received via school pickup, Pandemic-EBT, and delivery at home impact children’s food sufficiency among Asia households. We also find only school meals received via school pickup impact children’s food sufficiency levels among Hispanics and other races.KEYWORDS: Food assistancefood sufficiencypandemicschool meals Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. Phase 3.2 covers July. 21-August 2 2021, August 4–16 2021, August 18–30 2021, Sept. 1-Sept. 13 2021, and Sept. 29-Oct. 11 2021. Phase 3.3 spans Dec.1–13 2021, Dec. 29 2021-Jan. 10. 2022, and Jan. 26-Feb. 7 2022. Phase 3.4 includes March 2–14 2022, March 30- April 11 2022, and April. 27- May 9, 2022.2. EBT card is given to the recipients of supplementary nutrition assistance program (SNAP).3. We employed a probit regression model because the indicator of a household self-reported indicator of children’s food sufficiency is a binary response variable.