More than 50% of middle and low-income parents are struggling to afford food to feed their children, a study found, and some parents are skipping meals so they can feed their children.
The organization No Kid Hungry released the survey findings in a news release on March 14, 2023.
“A staggering number of parents are facing challenges providing meals for their children as costs soar due to the rise in food prices,” according to new survey findings released today by No Kid Hungry, which describes itself as “a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America.”
The study found that middle income families are "skipping meals to feed their children," with one in five families reporting doing so "due to rising food prices.
The survey questioned 3,000 parents of public-school children. The findings were that “58% of middle-income and 68% of lower-income families reported it had become harder to afford enough food for their children over the last year.”
According to the survey, “93% of parents with middle incomes and 87% of parents with lower incomes cited the rise in food prices as the reason for this struggle.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “food prices rose 9.5% in February 2023 compared to February 2022.”
According to the study, when it comes to lower-income families, "seventy-four percent reported that, in addition to the cost of food itself, the rising costs of other necessities, such as utilities, gas, rent, and clothes contributed to the difficulty of affording enough food."
The study found that the issue was affecting children's mental health. "Forty-one percent of parents with lower incomes and 45% of middle-income parents noticed a negative change in their children's mental health as a result of not having enough to eat," it says.
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