Dependency on soup kitchens in urban areas of New York State.

We studied the dependency of persons on soup kitchens in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Westchester County, New York. Seventeen percent of the meal recipients were homeless, 62 percent lived in apartments or houses, 20 percent were working, 40 percent were women, and 17 percent had a child in their household. Fifty-nine percent started eating at the soup kitchen more than a year ago, and 51 percent ate five or more meals at soup kitchens in the last week. Most reported they came to the soup kitchen because of economic problems or lack of food; 93 percent had incomes below the poverty threshold. Most used some government food program; 48 percent received food stamps. Utilization of soup kitchens and other programs differed between men and women and between households with and without children.