In 2022, the United States experienced an infant formula shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large voluntary recall, and related supply chain issues.
By summer 2023, about 20% of parents said they had a hard time finding formula — more than a 14 percentage point drop from fall 2022, according to the experimental Household Pulse Survey, which has been asking parents if they were having difficulty getting infant formula since September 2022.
Working collaboratively, the Food and Drug Administration, the Food and Nutrition Service, and the U.S. Census Bureau crafted a question series designed to measure the impact of the infant formula shortage. Questions included measures of difficulty for obtaining infant formula and ways parents coped with the shortage.
The Household Pulse Survey is the first data source to offer both a national and state-level look at the impact of COVID-19 on the infant formula shortage. The question series began in September 2022 but was updated in December of that year after testing.
Continue reading on the Census.gov website to learn more about:
Parents’ difficulty in obtaining infant formula
The impact of the infant formula shortage on low-income households
How parents coped with the shortage
