The delayed issuance of November SNAP benefits, a lifeline for millions of New York’s adults and children, risks setting off ripple effects that reach far beyond the kitchen table. For thousands of early educators, the crisis is hitting both close to home and at work.  

Three in ten SNAP recipients in New York are children. When food assistance is delayed, the strain shows up in classrooms and at drop-off lines: parents stretched thin, children arriving hungry, and educators and staff doing their best to hold things together. But an overlooked population is also on the front lines of this crisis — the dedicated child care professionals that work to take care of New York’s youngest children every day — who are not only holding things together for the children in their care. 

Across the country, a disproportionate share of child care workers rely on SNAP to feed themselves and their families. U.S. Census data show that in 2023, the latest annual estimates available, more than one in six — 16% — lived in households that had used SNAP in the prior 12 months, compared to just 10% of all workers nationwide. In New York, child care workers make

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