This Report to Congress from USDA responds to a requirement established by the 2018 Farm Bill to address requirements to coordinate efforts within USDA to reduce barriers to food access. USDA has identified FNS as the Food Access Liaison to coordinate efforts and annually respond to this request. The report describes activities that occurred from October 2020 through September 2023 to reduce barriers to food access given the last such annual report submitted in March 2021 covered fiscal year 2020
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) as a permanent federal food assistance entitlement program beginning in summer 2024. Summer EBT has been tested through evaluations of demonstration projects since 2011. With pending implementation of this new program, this is an appropriate time to reflect on what USDA, FNS research has learned through more than a decade of study.
This report provides statistics on food security in U.S. households throughout 2022 based on the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement data collected in December 2022.
The Nutrition Education and Local Food Access Dashboard is comprised of public data. The goal of the dashboard is to provide a county-level visualization of FNS nutrition support, specifically nutrition education and local food access, alongside other metrics related to hunger and nutritional health.
The Expenditures on Children by Families annual report provides estimates of the cost of raising children from birth through age 17 for different budgetary components, including food, housing, transportation, health care, clothing, child care and education, and miscellaneous costs.
The annual report, Expenditures on Children and Families, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child, shows that a middle-income family with a child born in 2013 can expect to spend about $245,340 ($304,480 adjusted for projected inflation) for food, housing, childcare and education, and other child-rearing expenses up to age 18. Costs associated with pregnancy or expenses occurred after age 18, such as higher education, are not included.
Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report, Expenditures on Children by Families, also known as the Cost of Raising a Child. The report shows that a middle-income family with a child born in 2012 can expect to spend about $241,080 ($301,970 adjusted for projected inflation) for food, shelter, and other necessities associated with child-rearing expenses over the next 17 years.