Vast Expansion in Aid Kept Food Insecurity From Growing Last Year

Despite the economic downturn, government figures for 2020 show no overall rise in hunger of the sort typical in past recessions. But some groups still suffered.

Despite the sudden loss of 20 million jobs at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, food insecurity among Americans remained unchanged last year, the government reported Wednesday, in what researchers called a testament to a vast expansion of government aid. As lines outside food banks stretched for miles in March 2020, experts feared the country faced a looming hunger crisis. But bipartisan legislation signed by President Donald J. Trump offered billions in emergency aid, forestalling the expected rise in hunger that has accompanied past recessions and keeping levels of hardship flat. “This is huge news — it shows you much of a buffer we had from an expanded safety net,” said Elaine Waxman, who researches hunger at the Urban Institute in Washington. “There was no scenario in March of 2020 where I thought food insecurity would stay flat for the year. The fact that it did is extraordinary.”