Post written by Kim Caldwell with the No Kid Hungry Center for Best Practices
Teachers, parents and kids tell us all the time that childhood hunger doesn't take a vacation during the summer months. That's because kids who normally get a lunch or breakfast at school lose access to those meals when class lets out for summer break. This loss of healthy school meals means for some families, summertime can be a time of financial uncertainty.
New findings by Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign show that low-income families find it harder to make ends meet during summer months. In our national survey of 1,200 low income families in the United States:
- 43 percent say that they find it harder to make ends meet during the summer.
- 32 percent report sometimes finding themselves without enough food during the summer months.
- Most low-income families (62 percent) report spending more on food during the summer months with an average increase of $300 more per month.
There is a solution. Free summer meals are available to kids and teens age 18 and under at thousands of
