Scarlett Johansson opens up

Before she became the top-grossing actress of all time, Scarlett Johansson lived on welfare and food stamps as a child...

Transcript

00:00You lived on welfare.

00:01Yeah.

00:02Yeah, I lived on welfare.

00:08I've been always interested in local politics and I think that change happens at home.

00:13There are 16 million children struggling with hunger in America.

00:20You know, we were living on welfare, we were on food stamps.

00:26My parents were raising four kids in a low-income household in Manhattan, so it was, it was,

00:33there was a lot.

00:34Our family struggled financially.

00:37We've been on public assistance for several years.

00:40And we finally settled in a housing development for lower middle-income families.

00:44We went to public schools and depended on programs for school transport and lunches,

00:49as did most of my friends.

00:50My girlfriends from high school to this day still depend on Planned Parenthood and often Medicaid

01:01for important health care services.

01:02That's why I'm here today, to use whatever attention I'm fortunate enough to receive

01:07to shed the spotlight on what's at stake for all of us.

01:11Are you kidding?

01:11I'm working.