Nearly half of Massachusetts parents reported their families experienced food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new survey from the MassInc Polling Group suggests.
Over 10,000 K-12 parents and guardians from 14 selected districts were surveyed to provide insight on the challenges families faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The level of need we found shows food insecurity is an ongoing concern even as the worst of the pandemic passes,” said Steve Koczela, president of the MassINC Polling Group, which conducted the poll. “The sheer number of respondents we reached for this poll, over 10,000 households, lets policymakers at the state and local level respond in a very nuanced way.”
Despite these high levels of food insecurity, many commonwealth residents did not pursue assistance programs during the last year.
P-EBT is a federal program, jointly administered by the state Department of Transitional Assistance and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, that promotes increased food security for families whose children receive free or reduced-price school meals through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program.
The program has covered the cost of school meals for students in remote or hybrid learning models during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The American Rescue Plan Act has recently allowed states to continue providing P-EBT for families through this summer.
The DTA estimates this will provide continued financial assistance for the Massachusetts families of more than 600,000 school-age children and 88,000 children younger than 6 in households that get SNAP benefits to buy food, according to a statement from the department.
The study found that 98% of households who received the benefit say they used it to buy food, and 94% called it “very helpful.”
While P-EBT was widely used, other programs were not.
Out of the households that most likely qualified for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, only 32% of respondents said they received SNAP benefits during the pandemic.
“It’s not that families don’t know what SNAP is; three-quarters said they were very or somewhat familiar with the program. Nor is it that those on SNAP have had a bad experience (majorities were “very satisfied” with SNAP on a wide range of metrics),” the study states. “The survey results suggest that more information and communication could be key to getting more families to apply for and use SNAP benefits.”
The number one reason 58% of respondents said that households didn’t apply for SNAP was that they thought they made too much money the qualify. Many others, 48% of respondents who used P-EBT didn’t know they could use SNAP at the same time.
Among the lowest-income families surveyed, many report not knowing how to apply for SNAP. Many others didn’t apply, saying their immigration status was a factor. The Department of Transitional Assistance does not share immigration status.
The study found also there were major variations in the amount of food insecurity between demographic groups.
“Younger parents, people of color, lower-income households, and nonEnglish speakers are far more likely to have been food insecure in the last year,” the MassInc Polling Group wrote.
For example, race and ethnicity were studied in this survey. The results suggest that 62% of Latino, 46% of Black, 38% of Asian and 31% of white respondents fall into the low or very low food security category.
When considering ages, the highest food insecurity is among the youngest age group of <18-29, decreasing percentage as age groups increase.
Language also impacts food insecurity with 72% of Spanish speakers, 35% of Portuguese speakers, 42% of Chinese speakers and 35% of English speakers in the low or very low food security category.
Food insecurity also varies widely by districts in Massachusetts. Out of the 14 selected areas, Chelsea and Lawrence suggest the highest food insecurity with 67% of those surveyed in Chelsea and 63% of those surveyed in Lawrence in the low or very low food security category. In Western, Massachusetts, Pittsfield and Chicopee have 37% and 36% accordingly and Greenfield is the second to lowest of those surveyed at 25%.
Read more of the survey here.
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