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Short falling WIC will take food from babies’ mouths
More than half of babies in the U.S. depend on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) — about 48,000 being here in Connecticut. WIC provides access to supplemental food, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk.
The current federal funding allotted to WIC falls short of the estimated nationwide demand — putting over 600,000 eligible participants, including 51,000 Connecticut children and mothers — at risk of being turned away from a program they qualify for.
A new report from the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities (CBPP) estimates that not fully funding WIC will force states to reduce participation by 2 million young children and pregnant/postpartum mothers nationwide by September 2024 and will disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic families. The report includes state-by-state estimates to illustrate the depth of the necessary participation cuts. In CT, participation would have to be reduced by 14,000 households currently receiving WIC.
Not fully funding WIC unwinds years of advocacy efforts to increase enrollment. WIC has a strong track record of positive impacts on health outcomes which is why there has been a bipartisan commitment for over 25 years to fully fund it — until now. If Congress extends the current funding level for the rest of the fiscal year, WIC will face a $1 billion shortfall in 2024, jeopardizing access for millions nationwide.
End Hunger CT!, alongside several other advocate groups nationwide, are urgently calling on Congress to fully fund the WIC program NOW. If the next federal budget does not include adequate WIC funding, many children and mothers will be harmed.
Join us tomorrow for #FundWIC Day of Action and help us share out call to actions on social media. Don’t wait, you can also take action right now and send a pre-written message to your elected officials.
New Resource Alert!
Download and share our ‘Fully Fund WIC’ flyer to your communities and legislators — this handout is full of data on what will really happen to vulnerable Connecticut babies and their families if WIC falls short of being fully funded immediately.
Photo by Liv Bruce on Unsplash
About us: End Hunger CT! works statewide to eliminate hunger and promote healthy nutrition through outreach, public education, and advocacy. EHC! offers SNAP assistance, nutrition program promotion, doubles SNAP at farmers’ markets, and more to help CT residents in need. To learn more about our services, click here.
Have any questions? Contact our Communications Coordinator, Kimberly Nguyen, at knguyen@endhungerct.org.
