The Summer Meals Study provides a comprehensive, nationally representative assessment of the two summer meal programs operated by USDA: the Summer Food Service Program and the National School Lunch Program Seamless Summer Option. It is the first national study to simultaneously examine the facilitators and barriers to program participation among participating and nonparticipating families, sponsors, and sites. This study examines the characteristics of participating and nonparticipating children, including sociodemographic characteristics, household food security status, reasons for participation or nonparticipation, and satisfaction with the meals served to children in the summer of 2018. 

This study is the first nationally representative, comprehensive assessment of the school meal programs since the updated nutrition standards for school meals were phased in beginning School Year 2012-2013. A study methodology report that describes the study design, sampling and data collection and a summary report that provides a brief overview of the study and key findings from the various reports are also available.

This collection is a revision of a currently approved collection for the School Nutrition and Meal Cost Study-II. The purpose of SNMCS-II is to provide a comprehensive picture of school food service operations and the nutritional quality, cost, and acceptability of meals served in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program.

This report examines the reinstatement of time limits on SNAP participation for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) following the Great Recession. This report focuses on how reinstatement of time limits impacted ABAWD employment, annual wages, and program participation. Methods include descriptive and regressive analysis of administrative data, analysis of linked SNAP-Unemployment Insurance data, sensitivity analysis of key findings, and interviews with regional SNAP directors.

This report, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, presents 2018 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percents of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category. 

This report – part of an annual series – presents estimates of the percentage of eligible persons, by state, who participated in SNAP during an average month in FY 2018 and in the two previous fiscal years. This report also presents estimates of state participation rates for individuals in eligible “working poor” households (households with earnings) over the same period. 

This report is the latest in a series on SNAP participation rates, which estimate the proportion of people eligible for benefits under federal income and asset rules to those who actually participate in the program. This report presents rates for Fiscal Year 2018, comparing them to rates for FYs 2016 and 2017.

This report responds to the requirement of PL 110-246 to assess the effectiveness of state and local efforts to directly certify children for free school meals. Direct certification is a process conducted by the states and by local educational agencies to certify eligible children for free meals without the need for household applications. 

This study examines the impact of SNAP asset limits on low-income households’ financial stability, including their participation in traditional financial markets and their ability to weather financial shocks. It found that low-income households with relatively high asset holdings were older and had more education compared to other low-income households.

This report is the latest in a series of annual reports presenting information on estimated national SNAP participation rates among people eligible for benefits under federal income and asset rules.