Why US government shutdown hurts the poorest first: Food, child care and heating

On October 1, 2025, the federal government of the United States began a shutdown. (Courtesy: Reuters file photo)

For millions of low-income Americans, the ongoing shutdown isn’t an abstract political standoff — it’s a daily emergency. Families like Hannah Mann’s in New Jersey rely on federal food subsidies and energy-assistance programmes that may run out of funds within days. Her newborn’s specialty formula costs $50 a can, and without food aid, even producing enough breast milk could soon become impossible. “It’s like a domino effect,” she said, the New York Times reported.

Programmes on the brink

Roughly 42 million Americans depend on SNAP (food stamps) for groceries. Another 6.7 million women and children depend on WIC, the Women, Infants and Children nutrition programme. Both are expected to exhaust available funds if US Congress doesn’t act. Nearly six million households rely on federal heating assistance to stay warm; many states have already stopped accepting new applications. And more than 65,000 children in 140 Head Start programmes could lose child care as early as this week.

Strains spreading through the system

Food banks, already stretched by higher demand and reduced federal support, are bracing for a surge. In Pennsylvania, calls to one major food-bank hotline doubled after the state warned that November SNAP benefits might not arrive. In Philadelphia, hunger-relief groups described the situation as a “crisis of our own federal government’s creation.”

Families scrambling for alternatives

In Florida, staff at a Head Start centre in Tallahassee worked without pay for a week to give parents time to find new child-care options. Some centres have patched together temporary funds to reopen, but the outlook is uncertain. Parents like Quintina Chukes, a single mother of four, said the shutdown has thrown their routines into chaos. “She’s learning now,” she said of her 5-year-old daughter. “When I pick her up, she’s singing in the car.”

Seniors and energy insecurity

About 6.5 million low-income older adults depend on SNAP, and the shutdown has compounded difficulties in accessing Social Security services. Benefit verification has halted, jeopardizing housing subsidies for seniors. Meanwhile, states such as Utah and Wyoming have already suspended new heating-aid applications. Experts warn that even if the shutdown ends soon, delays in processing could leave homes unheated through early winter.

Mounting anxiety across households

Researchers say the uncertainty itself is a form of harm. “These are benefits that provide that lowest level of food, shelter, warmth,” said an early-childhood development expert. “We’re wiping out that level of security for an individual.” Working families earning just above the poverty threshold are particularly exposed, unable to qualify for expanded aid but still dependent on WIC vouchers and SNAP top-ups to afford basics like milk and produce.

A crisis deepened by policy choices

Many of the threatened programmes were already targeted for cuts under the Trump administration’s domestic policy agenda. SNAP funding was reduced by $186 billion over the next decade, and the president’s budget sought to eliminate the federal home-energy programme entirely. The shutdown has magnified those cuts, leaving families and states improvising to fill the gap.

Temporary relief, lasting uncertainty

A few states have announced emergency stopgaps — California has pledged $80 million for food banks, and Virginia declared a state of emergency to continue SNAP benefits. Private groups, including DoorDash, are stepping in with free meals and waived fees. But for families like the Manns in New Jersey, the relief may not come fast enough. With $900 a month in benefits at risk, gig jobs and food pantries are now their only fallback. “You guys are not working,” Mann said of Congress. “We’re literally down here fighting over scraps.”