On the heels of today’s release of the 2016 Census American Community Survey findings, the Food Research & Action Center launched new interactive data tools that illustrate poverty rates and household SNAP participation rates by state and congressional district.
The U.S. household poverty rate decreased in 2016, according to today’s Census Bureau annual release of income, poverty, and health insurance data. The poverty rate went from 13.5 in 2015 to 12.7 percent in 2016. While this progress is good, it merely underscores that poverty in this country remains much too high.
More than 41 million Americans lived in households struggling with food insecurity — limited or uncertain access to enough food — in 2016. The 12.3 percent household food insecurity rate is still higher than the rate right before the Great Recession (11.1 percent in 2007). Studies show that food insecurity harms health, ability to learn, productivity, and the nation’s economic strength.
There are so many great stories waiting to be written on the importance of school breakfast and afterschool meals, the need to end school lunch debt shaming, and of course, preserving essential nutrition programs in the federal budget. We hope these ideas help inspire your next story.
Households in rural and small town counties are more likely to participate in SNAP than their metro area counterparts, according to SNAP Maps, FRAC’s new interactive data tool.
