This Bay Area county saw biggest jump in food stamps

San Mateo County, which has the fifth highest median income in the country at $122,600, was hit by a spike in hunger as thousands lost their jobs during the pandemic and signed up for food stamps.

In March and April of 2020, when businesses were shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19, 64,500 county residents were out of work, according to data from the Employment Development Department. Many turned to food stamps and private charities to keep the hunger at bay. The number of county households that signed up for CalFresh – California’s food stamp program – increased by 41% since January 2020 to over 17,000, according the agency’s data, the biggest increase in the state.

The sharp rise was supported by increased efforts from the county, which expanded its  virtual services including allowing electronic signatures, waived in-person interview requirements, worked with local charities to reach the hungry and hosted online events for residents needing help with applying.

Many struggling with hunger, however, don’t qualify for food stamps or the supplement simply isn’t enough. Samaritan House, a charity supporting low-income San Mateo County families through in part rental assistance and food distribution, more than doubled the number of meals it supplied in 2020 to 3 million and increased rental assistance from $2 million to $10 million.

“Food is the leading indicator for economic insufficiency,” said Bart Charlow, the CEO of Samaritan House. If a family has to choose between a roof over their head or paying for food, “they’re going to try and skimp on the food.”

Charlow wasn’t surprised at the heightened demand throughout the pandemic. Before the March 2020 shutdowns rocked the economy, Samaritan House was already planning to grow operations after seeing an increase in hunger.

“Our economic inequality was growing so fast. This is one of the wealthiest places in the nation” said Charlow, but many families who work low-income jobs “work hard and yet they don’t make enough to live in a place they work.”

In San Mateo County, home to the headquarters of Facebook and YouTube, the average annual rental costs have risen from $23,000 in 2014 to $33,000 by 2019 for a family with a pre-schooler and school-aged child – one of the largest increases in California, according to United Ways’s Real Cost Measure. A recent analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California found that those rising housing costs in San Mateo County pushed an estimated 30,000 residents into poverty since 2013.

“We’ve become a much higher poverty state, and it really is the housing cost that’s one of the main factors,” said Caroline Danielson, policy director and senior fellow at PPIC, “It’s just that our high housing costs outstrip people’s ability to earn enough to make ends meet.”

In 2019, one-third of San Mateo County residents were paying more than 30% of their income toward rent, making them at greater risk of financial ruin. The pandemic hit largely low-wage service jobs where employees were already in or near poverty. But many in the middle class were not spared, either.

“We saw a massive increase in folks who were either very close to the line before and just skating by,” said Charlow, to “middle income earners who are suddenly earning nothing and having to ask for help for the first time in their lives.”

Five thousand San Mateo County residents have turned to CalFresh since the pandemic started. But the program still isn’t reaching everyone experiencing hunger. Nearly half of San Mateo County’s food insecure population earn too much to qualify for CalFresh but not enough to stave off hunger, according to a 2019 analysis by Feeding America.

The problem, however, isn’t going away. While rent has slightly decreased during the pandemic, over 21,000 residents remain without a job and San Mateo County households that owe back rent are each behind an estimated $8,736 – the highest average household rent debt in California, according to an analysis by Surgo Ventures.

On July 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom allocated $10.3 billion to support current affordable housing and build new units that could alleviate rent and mortgage burdens on Californians. President Joe Biden is expanding food stamp benefits by more than 25% starting in October. But, for now, Samaritan House is not slowing down its efforts.

“Things will get worse before they get better,” said Charlow of the food need in San Mateo County, “We have not seen things abate, (hunger is) still at an extraordinarily high level.”

This article is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.