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Can low-income households afford a healthy diet? Insufficient income as a driver of food insecurity in Europe

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  • Penne, Tess
  • Goedemé, Tim

Abstract

In Europe, food insecurity is still a serious concern for individual and public health. Although progress has been made in reducing undernourishment, other types of malnutrition such as obesity and overweight are on the rise. Policies that aim at improving healthy eating and addressing food insecurity tend to focus on food aid, nutritional education and financial incentives. These policies are generally not targeted at the problem of insufficient income as a key barrier to access a healthy diet. In this paper, we present new evidence which shows that insufficient household income and inadequate minimum income policies constitute a remaining concern for accessing a healthy diet. We make use of estimates of the minimum cost of a healthy diet in 24 European countries, in accordance with national food-based dietary guidelines. We use these unique data to (1) estimate the proportion of people living in (sub)urban areas with insufficient income to access a healthy diet, before and after housing costs, based on representative income survey data (EU-SILC), and, (2) compare the cost of a healthy diet with the level of minimum income schemes for specific household types using microsimulation techniques. We find that in 16 out of 24 countries at least 10% of the population in (sub)urban areas risks to be confronted with income-related food insecurity. Our findings show that policies directed at tackling food insecurity should be embedded in broader economic and social policies that promote an adequate income for all, and limit the cost of other essential goods and services.

Suggested Citation

  • Penne, Tess & Goedemé, Tim, 2021. "Can low-income households afford a healthy diet? Insufficient income as a driver of food insecurity in Europe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:99:y:2021:i:c:s0306919220301822
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101978
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    2. Elena Carrillo-Álvarez & Júlia Muñoz-Martínez & Blanca Salinas-Roca & Irene Cussó-Parcerisas, 2021. "Estimating the Cost of the Spanish Sustainable Food Basket through the Reference Budgets Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Victoria Tanoh & Leila Hashemi-Beni, 2023. "Spatial Analysis of Socioeconomic Factors Contributing to Food Desert in North Carolina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-11, May.
    4. Fanzo, Jessica & Haddad, Lawrence & Schneider, Kate R. & Béné, Christophe & Covic, Namukolo M. & Guarin, Alejandro & Herforth, Anna W. & Herrero, Mario & Sumaila, U. Rashid & Aburto, Nancy J. & Amuyun, 2021. "Viewpoint: Rigorous monitoring is necessary to guide food system transformation in the countdown to the 2030 global goals," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    5. Elena Carrillo-Álvarez & Blanca Salinas-Roca & Lluís Costa-Tutusaus & Raimon Milà-Villarroel & Nithya Shankar Krishnan, 2021. "The Measurement of Food Insecurity in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-57, September.
    6. Karen Hermans; & Bea Cantillon; & Anikó Bernát; & Elena Carrillo-Álvarez; & Irene Cussó-Parcerisas; & Lauri Mäkinen & Júlia Muñoz Martínez; & Péter Szivos;, 2023. "Food aid in four European countries: Assessing the price and content of charitable food aid packages by using food basket, household budget survey and contextual data," Working Papers 2301, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    7. Alina CIUREA (MECA), 2022. "Impact of European Union Social Policy during Pandemic on Household Income," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 3, pages 117-124.
    8. Johanna Greiss; & Karen Hermans; & Bea Cantillon;, 2023. "The making of a European Social Union: The case of food banks and the right to minimum income protection," Working Papers 2306, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    9. Stefano Marchetti & Luca Secondi, 2022. "The Economic Perspective of Food Poverty and (In)security: An Analytical Approach to Measuring and Estimation in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 995-1020, August.

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