By Sara Tiano and Susan Abram, The Imprint, February 11, 2021
Among the most iconic images of the early pandemic were those of cars lined up for miles outside of food banks. Millions of Americans for the first time felt the threat of food insecurity when they suddenly lost income and the school meals helping them feed their kids.
Enrollment in California’s food stamp program, known as CalFresh, hit a record high in the spring of 2020, and the state is even boosting everyone’s benefits by 15%. But despite this unprecedented need, new research found that more than half of state’s recipients leave the program early — simply because it takes too much work to access their benefits.
“People are six times more likely to leave CalFresh in the month that they have to fill out paperwork to confirm their eligibility,” report author Matt Unrath, a fellow at the research nonprofit California Policy Lab, stated in a Jan. 29 news release.
Comments (0)