Advocacy & Policy Updates
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, families have relied on flexibilities and expansions to federal benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to help them weather the economic instability caused by the pandemic. Many of these flexibilities ended with the sunsetting of the Federal Public Health Emergency, leaving families to navigate changing programs and additional restrictions. Propel (the creator of “Providers”, a free mobile app that helps over 5 million low-income families manage their SNAP benefits) administers a monthly survey to around 5,000 of their users, who answer questions about accessing government benefits, employment, housing, and food insecurity. These surveys have been incredibly helpful in tracking the effect of these flexibilities and the impact of their being phased out. This month, the survey provided crucial insights into how food insecure families in Pennsylvania are faring compared to one year ago, and found that, despite a modest improvement in the percentage of households with children who skipped meals, there were many measures in which families reported struggling at higher rates compared to last August.
47% of surveyed households with children relied on family or friends for food, up from 25% last August.
55% of all surveyed households ate less due to budget constraints, up from 40% last August.
39% of all surveyed households visited food pantries, compared to 32% last August.
The survey also showed that families with children reported falling behind on payments more so than households without children, with 22% of households with children falling behind on rent in August, compared to 12% of households without children.
These insights show that while federal benefits return to their pre-pandemic status, families continue to feel the effects of the past three years.
See national insights from the August survey at Propel’s website, and take action to support our friends and neighbors experiencing food insecurity.
