Survey: P-EBT helped thousands of families access food, but as food insecurity remains high, other assistance programs are underutilized
Many who could be eligible for SNAP have not applied; results suggest opportunities for improved communication and information.
A new survey of over 10,000 K-12 parents and guardians in selected Massachusetts public school districts sheds light on the challenges facing some of the Commonwealth’s neediest families during the pandemic. Nearly half (47%) of all respondents -- and over 60% in two districts -- reported at least some level of food insecurity in the previous year. Overall, 10 out of 14 districts had over a third of respondents reporting food insecurity.
“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, who 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.”
In the face of that need, Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) -- a program that provides monthly food money to students who receive free and reduced price school meals during the COVID-19 emergency -- was a welcome benefit. Nearly all (98%) households who received the benefit say they used it to buy food, and nearly all of those (94%) called it “very helpful”.
Many of those households likely also qualified for SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). But only a third (32%) of respondents to the survey said they had received SNAP benefits during the pandemic. Even among those who reported food insecurity, only 40% said they received SNAP during the pandemic. Less than half of respondents making $25,000 or less -- an amount that almost surely qualified them for SNAP, depending on the size of their household -- received SNAP during the pandemic.
“This survey confirms what we’ve been hearing from communities throughout the pandemic: that, while P-EBT has been a critical tool in helping families access healthy food, food insecurity remains a prevailing issue,” said Jill Shah, President of the Shah Family Foundation, which sponsored the survey. “At the same time, the survey highlights the disheartening reality that programs like SNAP designed to address food insecurity simply are not reaching many eligible families. This data serves as a call-to-action to continue our efforts to increase SNAP participation while at the same time reimagining how we use government funding in more accessible, less restrictive ways to get food to those who need it most.”
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 survey results suggest that more information and communication could be key to getting more families to apply for and use SNAP benefits.
The top reason why households did not apply for SNAP was that they thought they made too much money to qualify for the program (58%). But when shown how SNAP works, 28% said the income cut-offs were higher than they expected. Similarly, nearly half (48%) of those who used P-EBT but hadn’t applied for SNAP did not know they could use both programs simultaneously. And 59% did not know that key parts of SNAP had been changed and streamlined during the pandemic. A third (34%) of these non-applicants said they would have applied had they known about those changes, including a majority (55%) of the most food-insecure among them.
Among the lowest-income families surveyed -- those who could benefit most from SNAP -- other barriers stand out. A majority (53%) of households making less than $15,000, and 43% of households making between $15,000 - $25,000, report not knowing how to apply for SNAP. Very few respondents overall knew that one can apply for SNAP online, via the phone, and in person.
Immigration is another major concern, especially among lower-income Latino families. Nearly half (49%) of all respondents did not know that the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) would not share immigration status if they applied for SNAP. Similarly, 44% didn’t know that applying for SNAP for eligible children would not affect theirs or their child’s immigration status.
About the poll: These results are based on a survey of 10,650 parents and guardians from 14 selected districts from across Massachusetts. The Chelsea Public school district was the pilot district for the survey, followed by Lawrence, Fall River, Malden, Chicopee, Pittsfield, Everett, North Adams, Brockton, Framingham, Greenfield, Methuen, Attleboro and Dartmouth. The districts included a mix of 9 Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) districts, where all families received P-EBT, regardless of need, 2 mixed districts, and 3 non-CEP districts. Inclusive of the pilot, the poll was conducted from April 9 - May 30, 2021 via text and email to web survey. Participants had the option of taking the survey in 6 different languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Cape Verdean, Haitian Creole, Arabic and Chinese (Simplified and Traditional). Survey links in these languages were distributed by the participating districts to the K-12 parents and caregivers. The project was sponsored by The Shah Family Foundation.