The WIC Program stands for Women, Infants, and Children [i]. The Program supplies supplemental food for pregnant women and children less than five years of age. The Program also provides nutrition education and training. To qualify for the Program, participants must live in a household with an income under 185% of the poverty threshold. The Program cost $6.8 billion and $5.5 billion in fiscal years 2023 and 2022 [ii]. The Program averaged 6.3 million participants per month in 2022 [iii].
WIC is administered through 89 state agencies and approximately 47,000 authorized retailers. In most agencies, participants receive checks or vouchers to purchase specific foods designed to supplement their diets with nutrients that benefit WIC’s target population. In addition, some states issue electronic benefits cards to participants instead of paper checks or vouchers. A few state agencies distribute WIC foods through warehouses or deliver the foods to participants’ homes. WIC recognizes and promotes breastfeeding as the optimal source of nutrition for infants.
The WIC Program comprises two parts – food distribution and public education and training (Nutritional Services). In 2022 WIC expenditures were 64% for food services and 36% for Nutritional Services and administration [iv]. The graph to the right shows the costs per participant per month for food distribution versus Services and Administration. The costs have been adjusted for the impacts of inflation and are stated in 2021 dollars [v].
Improper Payments and Fraud
The Office of Management and Budget estimates a 2% Improper WIC payment rate. See more information on the Welfare Fraud Page.
Entire Welfare System
WIC is one of thirteen welfare programs. See how it fits in the entire system on the Welfare Programs Page.
WIC Foods
Only specific foods approved by the USDA and called “Food Packages” are allowed to be acquired under the WIC program as described below [vi]:
“The WIC food packages provide supplemental foods designed to meet the special nutritional needs of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, non-breastfeeding postpartum women, infants, and children up to five years of age who are at nutritional risk.”
“Although Federal regulations specify the minimum nutritional requirements for the WIC foods, State agencies have a considerable amount of latitude in determining which foods to include on State authorized foods lists. State agencies make such decisions based on participant acceptance, product distribution within a State, cost, and administrative feasibility. Because state agencies are required to identify WIC-eligible foods, which vary from State to State, there is no consolidation list available.”
History of the WIC Program
The following history of WIC was adapted from the USDA WIC History [vii] and Wikipedia, WIC [viii].
WIC was formally created by an amendment to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 on September 26, 1972. The legislation established a Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) as a 2-year pilot program. Eligibility was limited to children up to age four and excluded non-breastfeeding postpartum women. In 1975, WIC was established as a permanent program. Eligibility was extended to non-breastfeeding women (up to 6 months postpartum) and children up to 5 years of age. However, all participants had to be deemed at nutrition risk and with inadequate income (however, what constituted inadequate income was not defined).
In 1978 a national income standard for program eligibility was created based on income standards prescribed for reduced-price school lunches. The standards were that a household’s income had to be 195 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or lower. The Act also strengthened WIC’s nutrition education component by requiring that nutrition education be provided to all program participants.
In 1981 the maximum income level for reduced-price lunches was lowered to 185 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines. Since the WIC income eligibility standard was tied to the eligibility standard of the National School Lunch Program, the maximum income level for WIC was also lowered to 185 percent of the poverty threshold.
See the Coronavirus Relief Bill for changes to the Program from legislation passed in 2021.
WIC expenditures over the years
The graph below shows WIC expenditures per year adjusted for the impacts of inflation (stated in 2022 dollars) [ix].
[i] For a description of the WIC Program and related data, see the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA]. About WIC – WIC at a glance. [Internet]. Retrieved on June 20, 2023. Available here.
[ii] USGovernmentSpending.com [Internet]. Total for Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Retrieved March 15, 2024. Available here.
[iii] United States Department of Agriculture. Food and Nutrition Services. WIC Data Tables. National Level Annual Summary, FY 1974 – 2022. [Internet]. Retrieved on June 15, 2023. Available here.
[iv] Ibid. Calculated from 2022 data.
[v] Ibid. Calculated from annual data. See methodology of inflation adjustment on the web page, Poverty and Spending Over the Years.
[vi] United States Department of Agriculture. WIC. Questions and answers about the WIC food packages. [Internet]. Retrieved June 20, 2023. Available here.
[vii] The WIC Program: Background, Trends, and Issues by Victor Oliveira, Elizabeth Racine, Jennifer Olmsted, and Linda M. Ghelfi. Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. (FANRR-27) 44 pp, October 2002. Chapter 2 – History of the WIC Program. Available here.
[viii] Wikipedia, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Retrieved June 20, 2023. Available here.
[ix] Data from USGovernmentSpending.com [Internet]. See methodology of inflation adjustment on the web page, Poverty and Spending Over the Years.