As the country approaches the official end of a national emergency, a concerning trend has emerged regarding federal aid and food insecurity among American households. The expiration of enhanced benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on March 1 has resulted in significantly stunted grocery budgets for many families. According to a recent U.S. Census report, a substantial number of households are now reporting food insecurity.

The latest data, collected after enhanced benefits were halted, reveals that households in states that were distributing additional benefits experienced lower levels of food insecurity compared to those in states that only provided standard SNAP amounts. States that opted out of emergency allotments early consistently reported higher rates of households “sometimes” or “often” lacking sufficient food to eat.

Analysis shows that termination of enhanced SNAP benefits has significant implications for households that previously relied on them. A family of four with a net monthly income of $2,000 received $939 more in SNAP benefits this year compared to pre-pandemic times. With the end of emergency allotments, this family, along with 32 million other Americans are now receiving impactfully smaller monthly SNAP payments.

While all states were initially distributing emergency allotments of SNAP benefits by the end of 2020, 17 states opted out of the program two years later, citing the belief that enhanced benefits were contributing to the labor shortage. Households in these states were more likely to report food insecurity compared to those in states that continued administering the enhanced benefits. The report underlines the vital role that additional SNAP benefits played in enabling recipients to meet their basic needs, though the long-term consequences of the policy change remain unclear.

The report relies on data from the Household Pulse Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census and other federal agencies to gauge the real-time social and economic effects of the pandemic. Between March 29 and April 10, approximately 10% of adults nationwide reported insufficient access to food. Some states experienced even higher percentages, with Mississippi (18.8%), Nevada (15.7%), and Georgia (15.1%) topping the list. On the other end, states with the smallest percentage of adults reporting food insecurity were New Hampshire (4.4%), Minnesota (5.3%), and Vermont (6%).

The survey also sheds light on food insecurity in metropolitan areas. The Houston area had the highest rate at 17%. While three California areas—Riverside, San Francisco, and Los Angeles—made the top 10, other cities with similarly high rates were scattered across the country, including Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, Florida, and New York.

Pandemic aid programs have been widely credited with reducing poverty nationwide in recent years. The expanded child tax credit, in particular, gained recognition for its role in poverty reduction, but SNAP also played an important part. According to a report published by the Urban Institute in August, emergency allotments in the last quarter of 2021 reduced poverty by 9.6% in states that continued distributing the expanded benefit, equating to 4.2 million people. In these states, child poverty decreased by 14%, with Black, non-Hispanic children experiencing a particularly high reduction rate of 18%.