IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v372y2025ics0277953625002898.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“It makes you feel worthless.” The lived experience of discrimination in the US food assistance system

Author

Listed:
  • Blau, Sarah J.
  • Tovar, Alison
  • Pearlman, Deborah N.
  • Weeks, Heidi M.
  • Ali, Jeneen
  • Bauer, Katherine W.

Abstract

This study examined the lived experience of judgment, mistreatment, and fear related to federal food assistance programs and the emergency food system among families experiencing food insecurity with specific attention to the intersections of holding multiple stigmatized identities while engaging with food assistance. Between November 2022 and June 2023, Feeding MI Families enrolled 781 English and Spanish-speaking parents experiencing food insecurity from 3 Michigan cities. Participants completed closed- and open-ended survey questions assessing their experiences of judgment, mistreatment, and fear related to using food assistance. Quantitative methods were used to identify similarities in these experiences across food assistance program use and sociodemographic characteristics, and qualitative methods were used to identify themes in participants' descriptions of their experiences. Approximately one-third of participants reported experiencing judgment due to using food assistance (38.4 %) or having worried about mistreatment by food assistance programs (37.5 %). Over half (54.8 %) of those born outside the US feared that using assistance would affect their immigration status. Participants described structural issues in the administration of food assistance programs as discriminatory. Often, these experiences were entwined with participants' gender, race, ethnicity, and language fluency. Participants also frequently spoke of interpersonal discrimination due to their use of food assistance, including being stereotyped as lazy, unemployed, and abusing the system. These experiences often occurred while grocery shopping, when one's use of food assistance can be on display. Social and structural interventions that combat stereotypes of food insecurity and improve the efficiency and dignity of food assistance systems could increase program utilization and impacts, particularly within communities that hold other stigmatized identities, decreasing the physical, emotional, and cognitive burden of food insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • Blau, Sarah J. & Tovar, Alison & Pearlman, Deborah N. & Weeks, Heidi M. & Ali, Jeneen & Bauer, Katherine W., 2025. "“It makes you feel worthless.” The lived experience of discrimination in the US food assistance system," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:372:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625002898
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117959
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625002898
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117959?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marianne Bitler & Lisa A. Gennetian & Christina Gibson-Davis & Marcos A. Rangel, 2021. "Means-Tested Safety Net Programs and Hispanic Families: Evidence from Medicaid, SNAP, and WIC," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 696(1), pages 274-305, July.
    2. Hatton, C. Ross & Bresnahan, Carolyn & Tucker, Anna Claire & Johnson, Joelle & John, Sara & Wolfson, Julia A., 2024. "Food for thought: The intersection between SNAP stigma, food insecurity, and gender," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
    3. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Reed-Jones, Madeline & Hales, Laura J. & Burke, Michael P., 2024. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2023," Economic Research Report 344963, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Stuber, Jennifer & Schlesinger, Mark, 2006. "Sources of stigma for means-tested government programs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 933-945, August.
    5. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Reed-Jones, Madeline & Hales, Laura J. & Burke, Michael P., 2024. "Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2023," Administrative Publications 344962, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Chaparro, M. Pia & Auchincloss, Amy H. & Argibay, Sofia & Ruggiero, Dominic A. & Purtle, Jonathan & Langellier, Brent A., 2023. "County- and state-level immigration policies are associated with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation among Latino households," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhao, Vivian, 2025. "Free food for thought: The effect of universal free school meals on graduation rates in the US," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    2. Poczta-Wajda, Agnieszka & Guth, Marta, 2024. "Challenges to Household Food Security – Experiences from European Union Countries," Roczniki (Annals), Polish Association of Agricultural Economists and Agribusiness - Stowarzyszenie Ekonomistow Rolnictwa e Agrobiznesu (SERiA), vol. 2024(4).
    3. Craig Gundersen, 2025. "Promoting dignity and autonomy in NSLP and WIC: Lessons learned from the success of SNAP," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(1), pages 80-96, March.
    4. Zhao, Yiwen & Fan, Linlin & Wilson, Norbert L.W. & Valderrama, Angélica Valdés & Wilde, Parke, 2025. "Variations on the Thrifty Food Plan: Model diets that satisfy cost and nutrition constraints," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    5. Aleksandra Kolasa, 2025. "On the effectiveness of quasi-universal transfers to older households: the case of Poland," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 23(1), pages 247-277, March.
    6. Zhang, Adary & Berrahou, Iman & Leonard, Stephanie A. & Main, Elliott K. & Obedin-Maliver, Juno, 2022. "Birth registration policies in the United States and their relevance to sexual and/or gender minority families: Identifying existing strengths and areas of improvement," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    7. David Schramm & V. William Harris, 2011. "Marital Quality and Income: An Examination of the Influence of Government Assistance," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 437-448, September.
    8. Delis, Manthos & Galariotis, Emilios & Monne, Jerome, 2021. "Financial vulnerability and seeking expert advice: Evidence from a survey experiment," MPRA Paper 107095, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Timothy P Schofield & Peter Butterworth, 2015. "Patterns of Welfare Attitudes in the Australian Population," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-14, November.
    10. Friedrichsen, Jana & König, Tobias & Schmacker, Renke, 2018. "Social image concerns and welfare take-up," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 174-192.
    11. Remnant, Jen, 2019. "Getting what you deserve: How notions of deservingness feature in the experiences of employees with cancer," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    12. Naoki Akaeda, 2023. "Does Social Policy Crowd Out or Crowd In Social Trust? The Perspectives of Transfer Share, Low-Income Targeting, and Universalism," LIS Working papers 870, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    13. Diego Muñoz-Higueras & Stephan Köppe & Rafael Granell & Amadeo Fuenmayor, 2024. "Non-take-up of in-work benefits: determinants, benefit erosion and indexing," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 58(1), pages 1-19, December.
    14. Keehyun Lee & Oral Capps, 2024. "The effect of immigration policy regime change on state-level participation rates of the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children in the United States," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(6), pages 1539-1553, December.
    15. Osman, Adam & Speer, Jamin D., 2023. "Stigma and Take-up of Labor Market Assistance: Evidence from Two Field Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 16599, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Jayakar, Krishna & Park, Eun-A, 2019. "Reforming the lifeline program: Regulatory federalism in action?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 67-75.
    17. Jackson, Margot I. & Mayne, Patrick, 2016. "Child access to the nutritional safety net during and after the Great Recession: The case of WIC," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 197-207.
    18. Contini, Dalit & Richiardi, Matteo G., 2012. "Reconsidering the effect of welfare stigma on unemployment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 229-244.
    19. Pak, Tae-Young, 2021. "What are the effects of expanding social pension on health? Evidence from the Basic Pension in South Korea," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    20. Wolf, Tobias & Hetschko, Clemens & Schöb, Ronnie, 2016. "Income Support, (Un-)Employment and Well-Being," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145860, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:372:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625002898. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.