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A reconsideration of food insecurity trends in the United States

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  • Craig Gundersen

Abstract

The food insecurity status of a household in the United States is generally put into the categories of food secure, low food secure, or very low food secure. Substantial differences in the level of need within categories are then ignored. In response, I establish a class of food insecurity measure using the binary measure of food insecurity combined with a measure of “dollars needed to be food secure.” Using data from the 2010 to 2021 Current Population Survey, I examine whether patterns of food insecurity differ by choice of measure. The two most notable findings are, first, that changes in food insecurity are similar across measures up until 2019 when they began to diverge and, second, that while aggregate rates fell from 2010 to 2021 under all measures, groups especially vulnerable to food insecurity saw smaller declines in the food insecurity rate and increases over other measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Craig Gundersen, 2024. "A reconsideration of food insecurity trends in the United States," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(4), pages 1286-1300, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:46:y:2024:i:4:p:1286-1300
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13412
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew & Gregory, Christian, 2022. "Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2021," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 2022(Administr), September.
    2. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew & Gregory, Christian & Singh, Anita, 2022. "Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2021," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 2022(Administr), September.
    3. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew & Gregory, Christian & Singh, Anita, 2022. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2021," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 2022(Economic ), September.
    4. Krishna Pendakur, 2018. "Welfare analysis when people are different," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(2), pages 321-360, May.
    5. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew & Gregory, Christian & Singh, Anita, 2022. "Household Food Security in the United States in 2021," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 2022(Economic ), September.
    6. Craig Gundersen & David Ribar, 2011. "Food Insecurity And Insufficiency At Low Levels Of Food Expenditures," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 57(4), pages 704-726, December.
    7. Craig Gundersen, 2008. "Measuring the extent, depth, and severity of food insecurity: an application to American Indians in the USA," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(1), pages 191-215, January.
    8. Coleman-Jensen, Alisha & Rabbitt, Matthew P & Gregory, Christian A & Singh, Anita, 2022. "Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2021," Administrative Publications 327331, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    9. Gundersen, Craig, 2021. "Viewpoint: A proposal to reconstruct the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into a universal basic income program for food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
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