"New data show that an unprecedented number of children in the United States are experiencing food insecurity and did not have sufficient food as of late June," writes Lauren Bauer in this blog post for the Brookings Institution. Survey data from the US Census Bureau revealed that "16.5 percent of households with children reported that it was sometimes or often the case that the children were not eating enough due to a lack of resources during the week of June 18-23 2020, 5.5 times the 2018 rate of 3 percent (the most recent annual data from the Current Population Survey)."
Bauer calls for a "substantial and immediate public investment" in order to address this critical need, including the expansion of federal nutrition assistance programs.