Child Nutrition Programs | Economic Research Service

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margin-right-2"><strong>Updated:</strong> 2/11/2025</li> <li class="tablet:display-inline"><strong>Contact:</strong> <a class="text-white" href="/authors/ers-staff-directory/jessica-e-todd">Jessica E. Todd</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div>    <div class="grid-container-desktop-lg"> <div class="grid-row grid-gap-3">  <div class="desktop:grid-col-3"> <div class="usa-accordion top-1 margin-bottom-3"> <div class="usa-accordion__heading"><button type="button" class="usa-accordion__button" aria-expanded="true" aria-controls="sectionNavigation">In this section</button></div> <div id="sectionNavigation" class="usa-accordion__content padding-x-1"> <nav class="margin-top-4" aria-label="Secondary navigation"> <ul id="block-topics-sidenav" class="usa-sidenav block block-ers-blocks block-topics-sidenav"> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs">Overview</a></li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/national-school-lunch-program">National School Lunch Program</a></li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/school-breakfast-program">School Breakfast Program</a></li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/child-and-adult-care-food-program">Child and Adult Care Food Program</a></li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/summer-food-service-program">Summer Food Service Program</a></li> <li class="usa-sidenav__item"><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/after-school-snacks-and-meals">After-School Snacks and Meals</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> </div> </div>  <div class="desktop:grid-col-fill"> <div id="block-uswds-ers-content" class="block block-system block-system-main-block"> <article data-history-node-id="3117"> <div> <div class="usa-prose"> <p>USDA's child nutrition programs help ensure that children receive nutritious meals and snacks that promote their health and educational readiness. The child nutrition programs are administered by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). Additional information about program eligibility requirements, benefits, and application processes can be obtained from FNS for <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/schoolmeals" target="_blank">meals in schools and childcare</a> and <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/summer" target="_blank">meals in summer programs</a>. Inquiries about these aspects of the programs can be directed to FNS through its <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/contact-us" target="_blank">Contact Us page</a>.</p> <p>In fiscal year (FY) 2023, total expenditures (including administrative expenses, grants, and other miscellaneous expenses, and excluding the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer program) on these programs amounted to $28.3 billion, the bulk of which was spent on the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program.</p> <p><body> <img class="display-block width-full maxw-65 height-auto bg-base-lightest" src="https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/Charts/84930/childprogram_expenditures.png" alt="Bar chart showing expenditures on child nutrition programs by program for fiscal years 2019 through 2023." width="2048" height="2080">  <p> <a class="usa-link" href="https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/Charts/84930/childprogram_expenditures.png?v=71294" onclick="s.tl(true,'d','https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/Charts/84930/childprogram_expenditures.png');" target="_blank">Download chart image</a> </p> </body> </p><p><a href="/sites/default/files/images/childexpenditures.xlsx" data-entity-type="media" data-entity-uuid="2d59af7f-6082-48cb-9445-c385c9f8c6d1" data-entity-substitution="media" data-entity-bundle="basic_media" title="childexpenditures">Download chart data</a> in Excel format</p> <p>The onset of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the second half of FY 2020 disrupted the operation of these programs. In response to these disruptions and to meet rising food needs during the pandemic, USDA issued waivers allowing for flexibilities in the implementation of its child nutrition programs and expanded the scope of both the National School Lunch Program’s and School Breakfast Program’s <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/summer/sso" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="Seamless Summer Option">Seamless Summer Option</a>, as well as the scope of the Summer Food Service Program.</p> <p>Additionally, USDA implemented a new, temporary program in FY 2020 called <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-guidance-coronavirus-pandemic-ebt-pebt" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="State Guidance on Coronavirus P-EBT">Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT)</a>. Initially, the program reimbursed families with school-age children eligible for free or reduced-price school meals (i.e., those from families with household incomes below 185 percent of the Federal poverty line) for the value of school meals missed due to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions to in-person instruction at schools. Changes in FY 2021 and FY 2022 expanded the program to include more children and to cover the summer months when most schools are typically closed for instruction. Expenditures on this program amounted to nearly $13.7 billion in FY 2023. To learn more about these pandemic-era changes, please see:</p> <ul> <li><a href="/publications/pub-details?pubid=109313">The Food and Nutrition Assistance Landscape: Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report</a></li> <li><a href="/publications/pub-details?pubid=102313">COVID-19 Working Paper: Filling the Pandemic Meal Gap: Disruptions to Child Nutrition Programs and Expansion of Free Meal Sites in the Early Months of the Pandemic</a></li> </ul> <p>Participation in USDA’s child nutrition programs has been found to reduce food insecurity. To learn more, please see:</p> <ul> <li><a href="/publications/pub-details?pubid=84002">Children’s Food Security and USDA Child Nutrition Programs</a></li> </ul> <p>For more information on specific child nutrition programs, please see:</p> <ul> <li><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/national-school-lunch-program" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="a9a1802a-7384-4754-95af-829f8acc0d45" data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-udi="umb://document/0c37ff2b299d4d7a9ee83e9381066d60" title="Child Nutrition Programs - National School Lunch Program">National School Lunch Program</a></li> <li><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/school-breakfast-program" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="e6936089-d85e-43a5-96cc-d19402699f2d" data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-udi="umb://document/c0689113ccd040b68f8e0e46e8435c07" title="Child Nutrition Programs - School Breakfast Program">School Breakfast Program</a></li> <li><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/child-and-adult-care-food-program" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="b8a099ed-8b0f-4dfe-bc1f-a42bd9a5511d" data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-udi="umb://document/7fcb163c40b34830a289549c13a2dac5" title="Child Nutrition Programs - Child and Adult Care Food Program">Child and Adult Care Food Program</a></li> <li><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/summer-food-service-program" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="4a918a88-cd45-4f1a-9e42-0c3775f57ff5" data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-udi="umb://document/ab6ccc90b3934d7aa9c332f1e7bd1e2f" title="Child Nutrition Programs - Summer Food Service Program">Summer Food Service Program</a></li> <li><a href="/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/child-nutrition-programs/after-school-snacks-and-meals" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="3b379078-6b6f-4485-93f8-9810b8d648b3" data-entity-substitution="canonical" data-udi="umb://document/4f5788c2866b4a4585a570fb6f31f029" title="Child Nutrition Programs - After-School Snacks and Meals">After-School Snacks and Meals</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>All values and figures are based on data available as of December 2023 and are subject to revision.</strong><br> </p> <p><strong>For information on updates to these programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, see </strong><a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="FNS Responds to COVID-19"><strong>FNS Responds to COVID-19</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> <p><strong>Additional studies and information about program eligibility requirements, benefits, and application processes are available from the </strong><a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn" target="_blank" rel="noopener" title="Food and Nutrition Service Child Nutrition Programs"><strong>Food and Nutrition Service Child Nutrition Programs web page</strong></a><strong>.</strong></p> </div> </div> </article> </div> <div 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