Number of Parents Worried About ‘Putting Food on the Table' Soars

The share of American parents concerned that they will be unable to feed their children is soaring, according to a new report, underscoring the affordability crunch that continues to weigh on household finances in the United States.

A new study commissioned by the meal kit company HelloFresh, in partnership with the nonprofit campaign No Kid Hungry, found that two-thirds (67 percent) of parents are now more concerned about "putting food on the table" compared to last year, up from 44 percent in 2024.

Meanwhile, over half (51 percent) of those surveyed said their household struggled to afford enough food over the past year, with only 21 percent saying that their family has enough to get by.

"Childhood hunger remains a rampant crisis in the United States," the groups said in a press release alongside the report, adding that the issue “intensifies during the summer when millions of kids lose access to dependable school-provided meals."

Rising Inflation and Food Insecurity in the US

The report's findings came from a nationally representative online survey of 2,000 parents of children aged 5 to 18, fielded between April 28 and May 5.

Nearly nine in 10 (87 percent) agreed that the economy was making it more difficult for families to afford enough food, while three in four said feeding their families was harder as a result of rising gas and energy costs.

According to the most recent government inflation report, released last week, prices rose 0.5 percent in May following a 0.6 percent jump in April, as headline annual inflation surged to 4.2 percent-its fastest pace since April 2023.

The Department of Labor said most of these increases were due to fuel costs, which have risen sharply as a result of the war in Iran, but many other categories have seen notable increases in recent months and over the past year.

In late May, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released a report detailing a "remarkable increase" in food insecurity in the U.S., which it said was particularly severe among lower-educated and lower-income households.

Based on its monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations (SCE), the bank compared current levels of difficulty with those reported at the onset of the COVID pandemic, finding "broad-based" and "meaningful" increases in the number of households struggling to make ends meet.

A sharp rise was recorded in the share of households drawing on savings to afford food, as well as in the number of households struggling to find enough food, children skipping meals, and individuals relying on donations from family and friends, food banks, and SNAP assistance.

The bank said that the rise in food insecurity could help explain recent declines in consumer sentiment, which it notes have "fallen near or below the low levels seen during the Great Recession and pandemic."

The New York Fed said that its measure of food insecurity differs from that previously employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The most recently published USDA survey found that this reached 13.7 percent in 2024, close to the post-2001 high of 14.9 percent in 2011.

Last September, the USDA announced that it would no longer be publishing the annual Household Food Security Report, which it called "redundant, costly, politicized, and extraneous," while arguing that the data did “nothing more than fear monger."

Parents Skipping Meals to Feed Their Children

According to the survey, many parents in the U.S. are making "severe sacrifices" to ensure their families have enough food.

A third of those polled said they had cut back on essential utilities like air conditioning to this end, and 36 percent reported skipping meals or eating less-a sacrifice researchers said was particularly prevalent among younger parents.

And to cope with these difficulties, over half (52 percent) of surveyed parents said they had turned to family or friends for assistance, with 48 percent relying on local food banks.

"Today, skyrocketing grocery prices have left American families struggling to afford basic necessities, deepening the strain on regional food banks," the two organizations said in a press release. "This economic pressure, combined with a critical lack of resource awareness, threatens to leave millions of families facing severe hunger this summer."

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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 10:00 AM.