More New Yorkers using food pantries than before 2020, including many with jobs, study says

More New Yorkers are relying on food pantries to get enough to eat now than before the pandemic – including many people with jobs, and without serious health issues, a new report has found.

About 14% of New York City adults and 18% of families with children visited a food pantry last year, according to the report, released Monday by Columbia University and Robin Hood, a foundation that aims to fight poverty. That’s less than in 2020, when pantry use was at its peak, but up from 2019. About 9% of adults and families with children relied on food pantries at that time.

The data align with recent research showing that a growing share of New Yorkers — about half, as of last year — don’t earn enough to meet their basic needs.

“These findings are concerning and, indeed, they are emblematic of the affordability crisis that has left few middle- and low-income New Yorkers unscathed,” Richard Buery Jr., CEO of Robin Hood, said at a press conference on the findings Monday morning at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen and Pantry in Chelsea.

Rev. Dr. Anna Pearson, the executive director of the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen and Pantry, said it was a small operation prior to 2020, when “the need skyrocketed” and never returned to pre-pandemic levels. Even now, the pantry is distributing groceries to about 700 households each week — nearly nine times as many as it served in 2019.

For many New Yorkers, pantries are a way to stretch their grocery budgets after paying for rent, childcare and other fixed costs, said Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest, which provides food to pantries throughout the city.

Between 2020 and 2023, about two-thirds of frequent pantry users had worked at some point in the past three years, compared with fewer than half of frequent users surveyed between 2015 and 2019. Among those who reported some form of employment, the share who had worked consistently also increased, the report found. During the post-pandemic period, the typical pantry user who worked earned about $34,000 in a year, up from $23,000 pre-pandemic.

During the post-pandemic period, pantry users were also less likely to be dealing with a serious health issue. About 48% of all pantry users fell into that category between 2020 and 2023, compared with about 60% between 2015 and 2019.

The authors noted that one thing that might have affected the results is that they changed their data collection methods to better survey a larger portion of the city’s Asian population.

Pantries and soup kitchens are often referred to as “emergency” food providers and the overwhelming majority of users surveyed during the post-pandemic period, 72%, said they had experienced some type of financial “shock,” such as a loss of income, benefits or an unanticipated expense.

But Ryan Vinh, the lead researcher on the report, said it was significant that a substantial minority did not report that type of acute event.

“Regular New Yorkers are facing higher prices at the grocery store,” Vinh said. “Even if they’re not experiencing these kinds of traditional financial shocks, they’re still experiencing a lot of burdens that are pointing them towards food pantries in order to meet their needs.”

Those who spoke at the event said it was up to state and federal officials to increase access to benefits for people experiencing food insecurity and help boost residents’ incomes by expanding tax credits.

Prior to the pandemic, a majority of food pantry visitors throughout the five boroughs were also enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, but now, slightly fewer than half of pantry visitors are on SNAP. Some may not be eligible because of their immigration status or because they don’t meet the income limits, Vinh said.