"You can't learn on an empty stomach"

Marketplace Morning Report · Aug 18, 2026 · 6m

The school year is getting started across the country, but some families are sending their kids to school without access to a benefit many have relied on in previous years: free school meals. Significant changes to SNAP under last year's Republican tax and spending law have led to plummeting SNAP enrollment — which is often tied to free school meals. Also on the program: big retailers' quarterly results and a buyer's market (for wealthier homebuyers, that is).Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is…