Women and children are at risk of going hungry. Congress must act now to fully fund food program.

As we enter the new year, one significant deadline is rapidly approaching: on Jan. 19, Congress will have to once again vote to pass a federal budget or risk a partial shutdown. Among the agencies and programs in jeopardy, the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) stands out, as nearly 7 million pregnant women, new mothers and young children depend on it for nutrition and medical support.

Congress needs to approve additional funding for WIC so that no woman or small child will be denied one of their most basic needs. If policymakers fail to do so, as many as 2 million eligible women and young children could be turned away or waitlisted for benefits due to lack of funding. This would disproportionately fall on Black and Hispanic families.

In one of the richest countries in the world, with the largest economy of any nation, it is unacceptable that our leaders could consider letting hundreds of thousands of small children go hungry. It is time our leaders look beyond party lines and budgetary spreadsheets and realize that their own constituents are looking to them to step up and help meet their families’ most basic needs.

After years of rampant inflation and financial hardships, low-income families are struggling to make ends meet. The latest data shows that in 2022, 12.8 percent (17 million) of U.S. households were food insecure at some point. Yet legislation proposed by some members of Congress would cut funding for WIC and reduce the monthly fruit and vegetable benefit from $25 to $11 for one- to four-year-olds, even as food prices are expected to remain high this year. This would also lead to a 70 percent reduction in funding for fruits and vegetables for postpartum and breastfeeding women. There is never a good time to deprive families of nutrition, but when grocery bills and consumer price indices continue to rise, this would be an incredibly bad time to take nutrition assistance away.

WIC is especially crucial for families with young children — for instance, the program currently serves about half of all infants born in the United States, with monthly food assistance to supplement participants’ diets with specific nutrients like cereal, fruits and vegetables. Additionally, WIC provides access to health screenings and referrals to pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women, and nutritional education for families. Without the additional WIC funding, states may be forced to deny resources to eligible women and young children.

As the child of a single working mom, I know firsthand how essential WIC benefits are and how high the stakes are for people who are unable to afford food. Knowing that we had federal support programs that we could depend on provided much-needed peace of mind for my mother as she struggled to make ends meet and keep me healthy, happy, and fed even while sacrificing so much of herself to do so. Without this critical support, I don’t know if I would be where I am today. It would be devastating if our leaders cannot commit to supporting families in need.

This is in part why Bread for the World,  the Christian advocacy organization I work for, has championed strengthening WIC since 1978 by making sure members of Congress recognize its value. 

Congress has fully funded WIC on a bipartisan basis for more than 25 years. Our leaders need to remember why we have these programs in the first place: to give mothers and young children access to proper care and nutrition. They can address the root causes of their budgetary issues without limiting access to healthy and affordable foods among our most vulnerable communities. Simply put, appropriating the additional WIC funding is the difference between whether families will have enough to eat or not. We need to make it known that failing to do so means failing thousands of pregnant women and young children during critical stages of parental and childhood development.

Heather Taylor, J.D., is managing director of Bread for the World, a Christian advocacy organization urging U.S. decision-makers to do all they can to pursue a world without hunger. Heather oversees all of Bread’s public policy and program divisions and operations.