How many people does WIC serve?
More than 7 million people get WIC benefits each month. Participation has risen steadily since the program began. In 1974, the first year WIC was permanently authorized, 88,000 people participated. By 1980, participation was at 1.9 million; by 1990 it was 4.5 million; and by 2000 it was 7.2 million. Average monthly participation for Fiscal Year 2002 was approximately 7.5 million. Children have always been the largest category of WIC participants. The average monthly WIC participation for FY 2002 was approximately 7.5 million people – of that number, nearly 3.8 million were children, over 1.9 million were infants, and over 1.8 million were women.
