Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is troubled that the rate of food insecurity in the United States continued to tick upward for the second year in a row. Approximately 47.4 million people lived in households experiencing food insecurity last year, an increase of 3.2 million more compared to 2022, and 13.5 million compared to 2021 when Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit and other key policies.
Contact Tim McHugh: media@fcnl.org, 202-903-2515
Meanwhile, newly released data from the Census Department shows poverty was mostly unchanged from 2022 to 2023, decreasing by only 0.4% to 11.1% overall. There were more than 36.8 million people living in poverty in 2023, which is not statistically different from 2022. Additionally, some 6.2 million more children were living below the poverty line in 2023 than in 2021.
“It’s good that we are at relatively low levels of poverty. Bu even these relatively low levels are far too high. In 2021, the expanded Child Tax Credit and other pandemic relief drove child poverty to just 5.2%, the lowest level ever recorded. We have the programs and policies to solve this problem,” said Amelia Kegan, FCNL’s associate general secretary for policy and advocacy. “What we don’t have is the political will. Sadly, the 13.8 million children living in hunger have very little to celebrate right now.”
According to the FCNL analysis, the top ten poverty-stricken states are, in order, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, New York, and Tennessee. The top ten states effected by food insecurity are Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, South Carolina, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Michigan.
Notably, six states – Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and West Virginia – appear on both lists.
“It need not be this way. The expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit have clearly demonstrated we can end poverty – especially childhood poverty – if we choose to. The food insecurity numbers reflect the same policy choice. This richest country in the world, with a defense budget rapidly approaching one trillion dollars annually, can eliminate both hunger and poverty. But only if it really wants to,” said Kegan.
To learn more, please visit www.fcnl.org.
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