FNA administers the WIC program at the federal level. State agencies are responsible for operating the program in their jurisdictions. This includes determining participant eligibility and providing benefits and services.
You may be eligible now even if you weren't before. WIC is by your side when your family is growing or your situation has changed. Many life changes – from having a baby or becoming a foster parent to experiencing income changes – can affect eligibility.
Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a state residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at "nutritional risk" by a health professional.
This policy memorandum transmits the 2023-24 Income Eligibility Guidelines for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
USDA announces adjusted income eligibility guidelines to be used by state agencies in determining the income eligibility of persons applying to participate in the WIC program. These income eligibility guidelines are to be used in conjunction with the WIC regulations.
The Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines (IEGs), are used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals or free milk.
These graphics, the latest in a series of annual reports on WIC eligibility, present 2020 national and state estimates of the number of people eligible for WIC benefits and the percentages of the eligible population and the US population covered by the program, including estimates by participant category.
Parts of this memorandum have been rescinded by SFSP01-2019: Summer Food Service Program Memoranda Rescission, Oct. 11, 2018. Rescinded policy has been struck through.
This notice announces the Department's annual adjustments to the Income Eligibility Guidelines to be used in determining eligibility for free and reduced price meals and free milk for the period from July 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014.
Each year, we estimate the number of eligible individuals for WIC during an average month of the calendar year. We use estimates of the number of individuals eligible for WIC and the number likely to participate to better predict future funding needs, measure WIC performance, and identify potentially unmet nutrition assistance needs.