Household Food Security in the United States in 2014 · 2017-10-24 · Very low food security among...
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Household Food Security in the United States in 2014 Alisha Coleman-Jensen USDA’s Economic Research Service [email protected] Webinar September 9, 2015
Transcript of Household Food Security in the United States in 2014 · 2017-10-24 · Very low food security among...
Household Food Security in the United States in 2014
Alisha Coleman-JensenUSDA’s Economic Research Service
WebinarSeptember 9, 2015
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“How many U.S. households were consistently able to put adequate food on the table?”
• How is food security measured?
• Main findings of annual food security report
• Food security survey
• Factors related to trends in food insecurity
Outline of Webinar
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U.S. households by food security status, 2014
Food secure – 86.0% 124 million households
Food insecure – 14.0%17.4 million households
Low food security – 8.4%10.5 million households
Very low food security – 5.6% 6.9 million households
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Food security definitions
Food Insecurity: Unable, at some time during the year, to provide adequate food for one or more household members due to a lack of resources.
Very Low Food Security: Normal eating patterns of some household members were disrupted at times during the year and their food intake reduced below levels they considered appropriate
Food Security: Access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.
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Food secure
Food insecure
Low foodsecurity
Worry, stretch, juggle
Reduce quality and variety of diet
Reduce food intake (adults)
Reduce food intake of childrenVery low
food security
How is food security measured?
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“The food that we bought just didn’t last, and we didn’t have money to get more.” Was that often, sometimes or never true for you in the last 12 months?
In the last 12 months, did you ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals because there wasn’t enough money for food?
In the last 12 months, did you ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn’t enough money for food?
Examples of Food Security Survey Questions
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Per
cent
of h
ouse
hold
s
Prevalence rate,food insecurity
Prevalence rate,very low food security
Trends in food insecurity(2-year averages 1996-2001, single-year rates 2002-14)
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Food-secure
households –
80.8%
Food-insecure adults only - 9.8%
Low food security among children (and adults) – 8.3%
Food-insecure households - 19.2%
Very low food security among children (and adults) – 1.1%
U.S. households with children by food security status, 2014
Food-insecure children and adults - 9.4%
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Food insecurity by household characteristics, 2014
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
All households
Income below poverty line Income above poverty line
Married couples with children Single mothers with children Two or more adults, no child
Women living alone Men living alone
Households with elderly
White non-Hispanic Black non-Hispanic
Hispanic
Percent of householdsVery low food securityLow food security
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Food insecurity by metropolitan residence and region, 2014
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
All households
Metropolitan, in principal cities
Metropolitan, not in principal cities
Outside metropolitan area
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
Percent of households
Very low food security Low food security
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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The prevalence of food insecurity depends on the length of time over which it is measured (2014)
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
14.0
7.9
5.6
3.4
0.7 to 1.1
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
14.0
16.0
Any time during year Any time during 30 daysprior to survey
Estimated average daily
Percent o
f Households
Food insecurity
Very low foodsecurity
NA
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Use of Federal food assistance programs by food-insecure households, 2014
Share of food-insecure householdsthat participated in the program
during the previous 30 daysProgram
Percent
One or more of the three largest Federal food assistance programs
60.5
SNAP (Food Stamps) 44.0
Free or reduced-price school lunch 32.2
WIC 10.4
None of the three programs 39.5
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
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Percent of households using community food assistance programs, 2014
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
Category Food pantries Emergency Kitchens
Percent Percent
All households 5.5 0.6
Households by food security status:
Food secure 2.0 0.2
Food insecure 27.1 3.0
Low food security 20.8 1.3
Very low food security 36.7 5.7
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Median weekly food spending by food security status, 2014
Category Median weekly food spending per person
Dollars
All households 50.00
Food secure households 50.00
Food insecure households 37.50
Source: USDA, Economic Research Service using data from the December 2014 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement.
• Taking into account estimated food need, the typical food-secure households spent 26 percent more for food than the typical food-insecure household.
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• Current Population Survey (CPS)• Conducted by Census Bureau• About 45,000 households• Representative of U.S. civilian households• Source of employment and poverty statistics• High quality sample• Well trained, well managed field staff• High response rate• High quality data management• Conducted annually in December
Annual food security survey
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Economic conditions may explain recent trends in food insecurity
• Inflation was 8.6% from 2010 to 2014
• Food prices up 10.5% from 2010 to 2014
• Maximum SNAP allotments fell 5% in November 2013 due to expiration of the temporary increase in SNAP benefits from the stimulus bill
• See today’s USDA Blog:
http://blogs.usda.gov/tag/ers/
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Summary: Food insecurity rose substantially during the recession and has been recovering slowly
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For more information….
http://ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us.aspx
Alisha Coleman-Jensen, [email protected]
202-694-5456
