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People receive free groceries at a food pantry run by the Food Bank For New York City on December 11th, 2013, in New York City.

The Trump Administration Admits Its Change to SNAP Eligibility Could Worsen Food Insecurity for Millions of People

The rule would slash benefits for those families that do not quite meet the program's poverty threshold, but are still food insecure.

Emily Moon

What Question Should We Investigate About Food Insecurity?

You asked, we listened. Now it's time to choose which story you want to see first.

Pacific Standard Staff

A nurse checks a child's heartbeat in the emergency room of the Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colorado.

News in Brief

Millions of Kids Could Lose Health Insurance and Food Assistance Under Trump’s Public Charge Rule

A new study estimates that as many as 8.3 million kids are at risk of losing their benefits.

Emily Moon

Vegetables are displayed at a supermarket.

New Research Shows SNAP Recipients Are a Benefit to—Not a Drain on—Rural Economies

The roughly 40 million Americans who use food assistance programs are also helping to create jobs.

Emily Moon

People shop at a Food Town grocery store during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey on August 30th, 2017, in Houston, Texas.

How Trump’s Latest Crackdown on Public Benefits Fits Into His Immigration Plans

A new memo could have a chilling effect on both family-based immigration and participation in public-benefit programs.

Emily Moon

Economics

Experts Have Wanted to Update the Poverty Line for Years—but Not the Way Trump Is Planning to Do It

Amid attacks on several food security programs from the Trump administration, this proposed change could ignite yet another debate about where we draw the line.

Emily Moon

Zury Vizguerra, at age five months, waits while her mother, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, shops for groceries on July 11th, 2011, in Aurora, Colorado.

Why Is Participation in Food Assistance Programs Like WIC Declining?

New analysis of federal data shows the largest single-year decrease in WIC's history. Participation is down in SNAP and the school lunch program too.

Emily Moon

Forty-Seven Senators Oppose the Trump Administration’s Proposed SNAP Restrictions

In a letter, the lawmakers urge the USDA to reconsider a proposed rule that would make it harder for able-bodied adults without children to receive food assistance.

Emily Moon

Research Shows Alabama’s Drug Testing Bill Would Harm Those SNAP Is Supposed to Help

SNAP has become more vulnerable under Trump. Alabama's law could test how far the administration is willing to go to destabilize the program.

Emily Moon

Harlem residents pack free groceries at the Food Bank For New York City on December 11th, 2013, in New York City.

The Trump Administration Wants to Restrict SNAP to Increase Employment. Research Says That Won’t Work.

The vast majority of poor, able-bodied adults without dependents using SNAP are employed—and for those who aren't, cracking down on benefits is not likely to help.

Emily Moon