People who get financial help to buy food and groceries through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program saw an increase in their monthly benefit amounts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But after the emergency allotments stopped following the end of state and national public health emergencies earlier this year, an estimated 2 million more Americans faced food insufficiency, according to a new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Our research shows that increasing the benefit size can be very powerful,” Dr. Aaron Richterman said.
But once benefits were reduced, Richterman said about one out of every 20 SNAP households experienced food insecurity.