Published March 27, 2026
Many people think of spring break as a reprieve from homework, time for fun, or just a time to relax and recharge. But for the millions of children who lose access to free school breakfast and lunch and their parents who count on those meals to make ends meet, spring break creates significant financial pressure and stress for the family. And with the affordability crisis, matters are even worse.
Rising Food Prices Help Fuel the Affordability Crisis
The pressure on household budgets continues to mount. From 2020 through the end of 2025, grocery prices have risen by 29 percent. Families feel it every time they go to the grocery store. The annual increase in food costs has slowed a bit, but the higher food costs are not being reversed. Instead, it is cumulative; each year increasing the pressure. In fact, food prices for families is expected to grow by another 3.1 percent in 2026.
Certainly, higher food costs are just one of the many financial challenges families are facing. Rents have increased by 32 percent from 2019 to 2024, and child care costs have climbed by 29 percent from 2020 to 2024. Most recently, the dramatic increase in the cost of gas is having a financial impact on 55 percent of Americans.
Importance of Healthy School Meals for All
Given the financial pressures so many families are facing, it is not a surprise that Healthy School Meals for All — offering school breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge regardless of household income — is so incredibly popular. FRAC’s 2021 poll found that 63 percent of voters support it, and that support has only grown around the country in the last five years, with 81 percent of voters supporting it in North Carolina, 87 percent of parents in Ohio, and 79 percent of voters in North Dakota.
Offering school meals to all students at no charge dramatically reduces household food budgets. Families can count on breakfast and lunch every school day, alleviating some of the pressure and stress to make ends meet, and helping to reduce the affordability crisis they are facing.
Ensuring That Kids Have Food at Home, Too
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a critical support that helps 42 million people keep food on the table, reducing food insecurity, improving health outcomes, and lifting families out of poverty. Yet, the benefits are too low, providing on average $6 per person per day, and many struggling families are not eligible for the program. The threshold to qualify for benefits is a net income of 100 percent of the poverty line, which for a family of four is about $32,000 annually.
SNAP and school meals combined offer critical support to families to help make ends meet. That balance is lost when schools close for spring break, and the family is left scrambling to fill the gap.
We need to do more to support families when schools close, and they cannot count on school meals. One of the most promising approaches for addressing the loss of school meals during out-of-school time is the Summer EBT Program, which provides grocery benefits on an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card to families who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals. This approach has been shown to reduce food insecurity and improve nutrition during summer break.
The Stop Summer Hunger Act, introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (WA) and Reps. Mike Levin (CA) and Johanna Hayes (CT), would extend the Summer EBT Program to include school breaks of five days or more, reducing the burden on families when schools close for spring or winter breaks.
Supporting Families With Kids
As families face the affordability crisis, we need to make sure that our federal nutrition programs are strengthened to keep hunger out of schools and homes. This includes reversing the $187 billion cuts to SNAP included in the 2025 budget reconciliation law (H.R. 1), increasing SNAP benefits, and expanding eligibility, while also implementing Healthy School Meals for All nationwide and expanding Summer EBT to include school breaks.