Child Hunger and the Coronavirus Pandemic

[The Education Trust]

On a typical school day, 21 million K-12 students from low-income backgrounds rely on free or reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches. With schools across the country closed indefinitely due to the coronavirus (or COVID-19) pandemic — as well as many parents newly-unemployed — the United States is facing the risk of massive child hunger.

School districts are working hard to provide access to school meals through grab-and-go programs at schools and other community sites, and some are even delivering meals and using other strategies. These efforts are important, but on their own they are massively insufficient to meet the overwhelming need.

By their nature, mass food distributions at select sites have limited impact; for example, in normal times, only about one out of every six students who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch utilizes the summer meals program, which relies on getting meals at designated meal sites.

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