Applying Racial Equity to U.S. Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs - Flipbook - Page 29
Special Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program for Women,
Infants, and Children (WIC)
Overview: Policy, Scope, and Impact
The Special Supplemental
Figure 5: WIC Serves More Than 8 Million Low-Income
Nutrition Program for Women,
Women, Infants, and Children
Infants, and Children (WIC), the
third-largest nutrition assistance
Number
Share of total
program,98 is designed to improve
of participants
participants
CHILDREN
the health and well-being of
Women
4
years
old
0.7
million
9%
pregnant women, mothers, infants,
3
years
old
1.0
million
12%
2.0 million
and children up to the age of 5
2
years
old
1.1
million
13%
99
(24%)
who are at nutritional risk. All
Children
1
year
old
1.5
million
18%
participants are income eligible or
4.3 million
INFANTS
2.0 million
24%
participating in another meansInfants
(52%)
tested program such as Medicaid,
WOMEN
2.0 million
SNAP, or TANF.100 101 102 WIC
Pregnant
0.8 million
10%
(24%)
works to ensure that its clients
Breastfeeding
0.6 million
7%
have access (see glossary) to
Other postpartum 0.6 million
7%
breastfeeding support, nutritious
food options, nutrition education,
SOURCE: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2015), Policy Basics: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
and referrals to health care and
Women, Infants, and Children.
other social services.103
WIC is not an entitlement
program, but since 1997, its budget has been
Figure 6: WIC Participation by Race108
sufficient to serve all eligible applicants—about 7.3
million people in 2017,104 of whom 1.7 million were
Other Indigenous
women, 1.8 million were infants, and 3.8 million
6%
10%
were children under the age of 5.105 In 2018, 53
Asian
106
percent of all U.S.-born infants and a quarter of
3%
all pregnant women received WIC benefits.107 WIC
serves a racially and ethnically diverse population.
See graph at right.
Among all racial groups identified, 41.8 percent
African
identified as Latino/a.109 Table 3 on page 30
American
highlights WIC participation by race and ethnicity.
21%
WIC operates in all 50 states, the District of
White
Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa,
the American Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana
59%
Islands, and through 34 Native American Tribal
Native Hawaiian
Organizations.110
or Pacific Islander
WIC is seen as one of the most effective nutrition
1%
programs. The evidence shows, for example, that
the program improves birth outcomes, increases
NOTE: 59% white include participants who are ethnically Latino/a
participants’ intake of vitamins and other nutrients,
SOURCE: https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/ops/WICPC2016.pdf
and reduces anemia in children.111 112 113 114
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