Community Eligibility: Supporting Families and Communities
The Community Eligibility Provision allows high-need schools to offer breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost. Two recent papers published by the National Bureau of Economic Research highlight the benefits of community eligibility for families with school-age children and entire communities. These are working papers, meaning they have not yet been peer-reviewed.
Together, these papers demonstrate the value of community eligibility to fight inflation, reduce expenses, and improve food security. As the cost of living continues to increase, expanding access to healthy school meals is a critical way to help families and communities struggling to make ends meet.