Poll from No Kid Hungry New York finds 67 percent of New Yorkers have had to choose between buying enough nutritious food and other household, financial necessities
Poll also finds 62 percent of New Yorkers oppose cuts to federal SNAP funding
A new poll commissioned by No Kid Hungry New York found that two-thirds (67 percent) of New Yorkers have had to choose between buying enough nutritious food and other necessities, like rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, or transportation costs, in the past year. For families with children, the rate was even higher as three-fourths (74 percent) reported making difficult trade-offs between paying for groceries and covering basic household expenses.
Overall, 74 percent of New Yorkers reported their financial situation suffered in the past year due to the cost of food.
The poll also found overwhelming, bipartisan support among New Yorkers for critical food assistance programs: 62 percent of New Yorkers oppose federal cuts to SNAP and most believe SNAP helps low-income families afford healthy foods (74 percent) and prevents them from taking on debt (67 percent). Eighty percent of respondents agreed SNAP helps ensure parents can afford enough food for their families, including 91 percent of Democrats, 78 percent of Independents, and 66 percent of Republicans.
The poll findings come as rising food costs and federal cuts to critical food assistance programs push even more children and families into hunger. According to the USDA’s latest hunger survey, 14 million children face hunger nationwide. They also come as the U.S. House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee considers the Farm Bill – a critical opportunity to reverse millions of dollars in federal SNAP funding cuts.
“These findings make clear that families across New York are struggling to keep up with rising food costs and are making impossible choices between groceries and other basic needs,” said Rachel Sabella, director of No Kid Hungry New York. “No child should go hungry in our state. New Yorkers overwhelmingly agree that we need strong, effective food assistance programs and bipartisan action to ensure every child has the food they need to learn, grow and thrive.”
Statewide Takeaways:
- New Yorkers are still struggling to keep up with food costs: Three-fourths (74 percent) of New Yorkers say their financial situation has suffered over the past 12 months because of food costs. Half (50 percent) report taking on more debt due to the cost of food and more than one-fourth (28 percent) have used “buy now, pay later” plans to cover the cost of groceries. Overall, 84 percent of New Yorkers say the cost of food is rising faster than their income, showing no improvement since this time last year.
- Families with children are facing even greater strain: Seventy-seven percent of families with children reported that their financial situation had suffered due to the cost of food, compared with 74 percent of New Yorkers overall. Fifty-seven percent of families said they have accrued debt in the past year due to food costs, compared with 50 percent of poll respondents overall. Four in ten families (39 percent) reported using buy now, pay later plans to afford food, compared with 28 percent of respondents overall.
- New York’s hunger crisis continues to have a disproportionate impact on families of color: Eighty-seven percent of Black families and 84 percent of Latino families reported having to choose between buying nutritious food and covering basic household expenses, compared with 74 percent of families overall. Seventy-two percent of Black families and 67 percent of Latino families reported taking on more debt due to the cost of food, compared with 57 percent of families overall.
- Moms are more acutely impacted financially: Eighty percent of women with children report having to choose between food and other essentials (compared with 69 percent of men with children). Eighty percent of women with children also reported that their financial situation had suffered due to the cost of food (compared with 69 percent of men with children)
- A majority of New Yorkers oppose cuts to federal SNAP funding: Sixty-two percent of New Yorkers oppose cuts to federal food assistance and 52 percent of New Yorkers strongly oppose these cuts.
- New Yorkers agree that addressing child hunger should be a bipartisan goal: Nearly all respondents (93 percent) agree that child hunger should not exist in New York. Eighty-five percent want elected officials to do more to end childhood hunger and 90 percent believe ending child hunger should be a shared, bipartisan goal.
The poll was conducted by Aspect Strategic from February 3-10, 2026 and surveyed 1,512 New Yorkers across the state and has a margin of error of +/- 2.5%. Read the poll summary here.
