Nutrition program for women and children is on the chopping block in government budgets

Some 4.7 million women and children nationally, including nearly 200,000 in Michigan, are at risk of losing vitally important food assistance if federal funding measures currently before the U.S. House and Senate are passed. Those bills slash the program’s budget by tens of millions of dollars.

An impending federal government shutdown could bring the entire program to a grinding halt within days to weeks, officials said. Commonly called WIC, the program provides benefits like grocery money and breastfeeding support for as many as 6.3 million people in the U.S. — specifically children under the age of 5 and women who are pregnant or have recently given birth. A federal budget bill needs to be passed by the beginning of the fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, to avoid a shutdown. A stop-gap budget proposal is awaiting action in Congress.

The current proposed federal agriculture spending bill would knock funding levels for WIC, formally known as The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, down by $185 million from the current budget and cut back a 2021 benefit bump that participants were able to use to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.

“This really is an emergency situation we're facing,” said Julie Cassidy, senior policy analyst with the Michigan League for Public Policy. “If it is not fully funded, it will absolutely mean more hunger, and the serious health consequences that come with it.”

A 'lifesaving' program for half of Michigan's babies

WIC has been around for almost 50 years and more than 6 million low-income women and young children depend on it for nutritional support, according to the National WIC Association, the education and advocacy arm of the program.

Women and children enrolled in WIC can receive nutritious food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referrals to health care and other social services. Association advocates say the program enhances access to foods that deliver priority nutrients critical for children’s development, build their foundation for healthy lifelong eating habits and lead to higher academic achievement.

Families are eligible for WIC if they have a gross income of no more than 185% of the Federal Poverty Level — currently $36,482 for a single person and $55,000 for a family of four — and are at “nutritional risk.” The more than 200,000 mothers, babies and children receiving food through Michigan’s WIC program every month includes half of the infants born in the state.

Research into WIC’s effectiveness has shown women who participate in WIC tend to have healthier babies with reduced infant mortality and higher mental development scores at age 2. WIC participants are four times more likely to be food secure than eligible people who aren’t enrolled, and tend to consume more vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

The earlier a pregnant woman receives WIC benefits, the more likely she is to seek prenatal care and deliver a normal weight infant, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The state reports that every dollar spent on WIC saves $3.50 in health care costs.

“The impacts of a disruption in benefits, or just a more long-term reduction in access to benefits, could be very devastating for people,” Cassidy said. “We really urge our elected officials in Congress to acknowledge the lifesaving role of WIC in all of our communities and fully fund it for the future.”

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1 in 8 Michigan children go hungry

Children’s reliance on WIC has increased notably since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, with a 17% increase in child participation since that time. The rise in need reflects a rise in food prices around the nation. From 2018 to 2022, food prices rose by more than 20% — more than any other cost category except for transportation.

Food prices tend to inflate by an average of 2% each year. Last year, prices in nine food categories exceeded 10%. One in eight Michigan children face hunger, according to Feeding America, the country’s largest hunger relief organization. People struggling to buy food also have been hit by higher child care and transportation costs.

Hunger has the most impact on northern, rural Michiganders, though Wayne County has the fifth-highest rate of food insecurity. And rates of WIC participation are expected to increase for fiscal year 2024, officials said.

More than 169,000 Michiganders could be affected

Throughout its history, WIC has largely benefitted from bipartisan support in Congress and has been sufficiently funded since 1997.

But the appropriations bills currently before the House and Senate fund WIC at levels that are drastically below those needed to provide full nutrition assistance benefits to all the eligible families that apply, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute.

Analysts at the center estimate that nationally, 600,000 new parents and children would be turned away from the program and 4.7 million people would see their benefits cut sharply should the bills pass.

All told, WIC funding proposed in the current appropriation bills would likely mean 19,200 eligible Michiganders would be turned away from the program, and more than 150,000 would have their produce budget more than halved.

A funding shortfall would mean eligible participants likely would have to be put on a waiting list and others who come to the end of their eligibility period would not be able to renew their benefits.

“While MDHHS is watching the status of the federal budget closely, the department’s goal is to maintain the necessary services to Michigan residents,” Michigan health department spokesperson Lynn Sutfin said in an email. “We are not anticipating changes in services at this time but will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation, as well as communicate as needed.”

If WIC is not fully funded, federal prioritization criteria advises states on whom to prioritize. New parents, toddlers and preschoolers would be more likely to get turned away from the program, officials said.

More than 600 organizations across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico signed on to a letter urging lawmakers to fully fund WIC in the coming fiscal year to avoid service delays and a ripple effect on program access and enrollment.

Cassidy says trying to save money by cutting back on WIC is the wrong way to save the government money. “I don’t think taking food away from babies is really doing much to reign in government spending,” she said. “And if that's your goal, I think that's a particularly barbaric way to do it."

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Cutting back the benefits bump

WIC bumped up the amount of cash it gives participants to purchase produce two years ago, allowing families to access a wider variety of fruits and vegetables and more than triple their purchasing power at the grocery store.

Congress extended the bump through this year, but it’s another benefit slated for pruning in the proposed new budget. The House Appropriations Committee suggested cutting the amount of fruit and vegetables WIC provides to kids by 56% and it would cut the amount available to pregnant women and new mothers by 70%.

“This will bring a child’s benefit from $35 per month down to just $11 a month for fruits and vegetables, starting October 1, making it that much harder to access the nutritious food our nation’s youngest kids need to grow up healthy and strong,” No Kid Hungry campaign Senior Vice President Lisa Davis said in a statement.

A government shutdown would mean a sudden halt to benefits

Government funding for the fiscal year will expire at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 1. Should Congress fail to pass legislation to extend funding, WIC is just one of the programs that will suffer.

Millions of federal employees would be furloughed, all nonessential government functions would cease and federal contractors in sectors, including aviation, could be put on pause. Early childhood education programs could lose federal funding; and SNAP, the nutrition assistance program for low-income families, would be in jeopardy after about a month.

The previous government shutdown in 2018 lasted five weeks and cost the country $3 billion in lost gross domestic product and delayed $18 billion in discretionary spending. The Congressional Budget Office found that a longer shutdown would have affected federal benefit programs, dampening consumer spending and reducing consumer confidence.

The Senate voted on Tuesday to advance a short-term funding bill known as a Continuing Resolution that would serve as a stop-gap measure, funding federal agencies at current levels through Nov. 17. That proposal did not provide additional WIC funding to meet the projected increase in program participation. However, Cassidy says it does create some flexibility in how fast WIC money can be spent, and it allows unused program funds from previous years to be used now, meaning WIC would not have to cut benefits or enrollment for the time being.

Despite bipartisan support for the measure in the U.S. Senate, the Continuing Resolution is expected to face resistance in the House.

Sutfin said the state of Michigan currently has sufficient funds to continue the WIC program if there is a government shutdown, though she didn’t say how long the money would last.

Jennifer Brookland covers child welfare for the Detroit Free Press in partnership with Report for America. Reach her at jbrookland@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: WIC program at risk in appropriations bills or government shutdown