Missouri operates what’s called an “offline” system for reloading benefits onto participants’ electronic benefits transfer (EBT) debit cards. ![]() Missouri is one of just nine states which uses a WIC system that requires participants’ benefits cards to be physically swiped when loading benefits. Other states had systems which allowed them to shift away from in-person contact, but not Missouri. One reason that some states like Missouri saw double-digit declines in the rate of WIC participation, the report suggests, might be related to administrative barriers, specifically, the burdensome way some states reload participants’ benefits. There was a slight increase in WIC participation on average nationally, with some states like North Carolina witnessing double-digit increases. States’ participation rates over the pandemic varied widely. The federal government has not released recent state-by-state data on coverage or eligibility rates over the pandemic. The pandemic “increased unemployment and economic hardship, making many families newly eligible for WIC,” the report noted, suggesting that declining participation was not a result of declining need for public assistance. Roughly 80,000 low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children under age 5 were enrolled in Missouri’s WIC program earlier this year, down by 20,000 participants since early 2020. ![]() The only state with a steeper decline in participation was New Mexico.
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