{"id":15087,"date":"2026-03-04T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T08:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/?p=15087"},"modified":"2026-03-03T21:20:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T21:20:38","slug":"2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new statewide poll commissioned by No Kid Hungry New York reveals a troubling reality: rising food costs are pushing families to the brink, forcing many to choose between putting food on the table and paying for basic necessities like rent, utilities, and transportation.<\/p>\n

An overwhelming 84% of New Yorkers say the cost of food is rising faster than their income\u2014showing no improvement since this time last year<\/a>. As prices continue to climb, families are making impossible trade-offs just to get by.<\/p>\n

Two-thirds (67%) of New Yorkers report having to choose between buying enough nutritious food and paying for other essential household expenses in the past 12 months. For families with children, that number jumps to 74%.<\/p>\n

Behind these numbers are real stories of sacrifice.<\/p>\n

A Brooklyn resident shared:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of six months ago I’ve started using more credit to pay for my food and meal purchases and have been alternating between two cards in order to have more time to pay them off. Credit card debt is not ideal but at least I am able to feed myself to continue working full time as I earn my Bachelor’s degree.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Across the state, more families are going into debt just to afford groceries. Half (50%) of New Yorkers say they have taken on additional debt due to food costs, and more than one in four (28%) have used \u201cbuy now, pay later\u201d plans to cover grocery bills. Among families with children, 57% report accruing debt, and 39% are relying on \u201cbuy now, pay later\u201d services to afford food.<\/p>\n

The burden is not felt equally. Families of color are disproportionately impacted with 87% of Black families and 84 percent of Latino families reporting they\u2019ve had to choose between food and other necessities, and 72% of Black families and 67% of Latino families reported taking on more debt due to the cost of food.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Albany County, one parent described the toll:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past 12 months I have felt like I’m pushing my physical and mental limits to keep up with the cost of living. I have three young children\u2026 I had to pick up two more jobs\u2026 At this point I’m not even looking for the \u2018healthier\u2019 option when grocery shopping, I’m just looking for the options we can afford so the kids have enough to eat.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For some families, meals are being reduced to once a day. A Westchester County parent shared:<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the time we are skipping breakfast and having our first meal of the day at 2 PM or 3 PM; after that nothing else\u2026 It has boiled down to one meal a day.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Despite these hardships, New Yorkers are united around solutions.<\/p>\n

A strong majority recognize the importance of food assistance programs. Eight in ten (80%) say SNAP helps ensure parents can afford enough food for their families, and 74% say it helps low-income families afford healthy, fresh food. Two-thirds (67%) say SNAP prevents low-income families from taking on debt. And New Yorkers do not want to see these programs cut. A majority (62%) oppose federal cuts to SNAP funding.<\/p>\n

There is also overwhelming agreement that ending child hunger must be a priority. Nearly all respondents (93%) agree that child hunger should not exist in New York, 85% want elected officials to do more, and 90% believe ending childhood hunger should be a shared, bipartisan goal.<\/p>\n

These findings send a clear message: families are struggling, but the solutions are within reach. Strengthening SNAP and Summer EBT while ensuring kids have access to free school and summer meals are proven ways to reduce hardship and prevent families from falling deeper into debt.<\/p>\n

No parent should have to ration meals. No student should have to learn on an empty stomach. And no child in New York should go hungry.<\/p>\n

Together, we can ensure every child in New York has the food they need to grow, learn, and thrive.<\/p>\n

Learn more about how you can take action to end childhood hunger in New York here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new statewide poll commissioned by No Kid Hungry New York reveals a troubling reality: rising food costs are pushing families to the brink, forcing many to choose between putting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs - NEW YORK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs - NEW YORK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new statewide poll commissioned by No Kid Hungry New York reveals a troubling reality: rising food costs are pushing families to the brink, forcing many to choose between putting...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEW YORK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T08:00:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-03T21:20:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Habibah Abass\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Habibah Abass\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/\",\"name\":\"2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs - NEW YORK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-04T08:00:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-03T21:20:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#\/schema\/person\/1dfbfcb3c89e93e952cf5b9e24f9890e\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/\",\"name\":\"NEW YORK\",\"description\":\"No kid should go hungry in New York\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#\/schema\/person\/1dfbfcb3c89e93e952cf5b9e24f9890e\",\"name\":\"Habibah Abass\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e10d101373c7dde218a224963ad6bb3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e10d101373c7dde218a224963ad6bb3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Habibah Abass\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/author\/habass\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs - NEW YORK","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs - NEW YORK","og_description":"A new statewide poll commissioned by No Kid Hungry New York reveals a troubling reality: rising food costs are pushing families to the brink, forcing many to choose between putting...","og_url":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/","og_site_name":"NEW YORK","article_published_time":"2026-03-04T08:00:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-03T21:20:38+00:00","author":"Habibah Abass","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Habibah Abass","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/","url":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/","name":"2026 New York Hunger Survey: Families Are Being Forced to Choose Between Food and Basic Needs - NEW YORK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-04T08:00:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-03T21:20:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#\/schema\/person\/1dfbfcb3c89e93e952cf5b9e24f9890e"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/2026-new-york-hunger-survey-families-are-being-forced-to-choose-between-food-and-basic-needs\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/","name":"NEW YORK","description":"No kid should go hungry in New York","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#\/schema\/person\/1dfbfcb3c89e93e952cf5b9e24f9890e","name":"Habibah Abass","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nkh-state-nkh-state.pantheonsite.io\/new-york\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e10d101373c7dde218a224963ad6bb3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e10d101373c7dde218a224963ad6bb3e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Habibah Abass"},"url":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/author\/habass\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15087"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15099,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15087\/revisions\/15099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}