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Child Nutrition Programs: Spending and Policy Options 1 (September 2015)

handle is hein.congrec/cbo2505 and id is 1 raw text is: ;i                                              SEPTEMBER 2015
Child Nutrition Programs:
Spending and Policy Options
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Summary
Several federal programs support children's nutritional needs. In 2014, the federal
government spent about $20 billion to reimburse schools, child care centers, and after-
school programs for children's meals. Those programs benefit mainly school-age
children from low-income households. Other nutrition programs provide benefits
directly to such households: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP;
formerly the Food Stamp program) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
The largest of the five school- and center-based programs, the National School Lunch
Program (NSLP), fed about 30 million children each school day in 2014 and cost
$12.7 billion. The federal government spent another $3.7 billion in 2014 to feed
about 14 million children through the School Breakfast Program (SBP). The government
also spent $3.6 billion to provide nutritional assistance in locations outside schools and
during the summer, as well as to augment children's diets with milk. This report focuses
on the school lunch and breakfast programs, which account for more than 80 percent
of all spending for child nutrition programs.
Population growth, higher reimbursement rates, policy changes, and other factors more
than doubled spending in real terms (meaning that values are adjusted for inflation) on
child nutrition programs from 1990 to 2014. Continued increases in food prices and
demographic changes are expected to contribute to further growth in spending on child
nutrition programs. Under current law, the Congressional Budget Office projects,
spending would rise to about $31 billion in nominal dollars by 2025. Adjusted for
expected inflation, that value represents an increase of 26 percent over 2014 spending.
Notes: Unless otherwise specified, all years referred to in this report are federal fiscal years, which run
from October I to September 30, and are designated by the calendar year in which they end.
Unless otherwise specified, all spending amounts are reported in 2014 dollars. Adjustments for inflation
are made by using the price index for personal consumption expenditures prepared by the Bureau of
Economic Analysis.

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