Household Food Security in the United States in 2019

This report presents findings from data collected in December 2019 for the year that preceded the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. An estimated 89.5 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year in 2019, with access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members. The remaining households (10.5 percent, down from 11.1 percent in 2018) were food insecure at least some time during the year, including 4.1 percent with very low food security (not significantly different from 4.3 percent in 2018). Very low food security is the more severe range of food insecurity where one or more household members experienced reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns at times during the year because of limited money and other resources for obtaining food. Among children, changes from 2018 in food insecurity and very low food security were not statistically significant. Children and adults were food insecure in 6.5 percent of U.S. households with children in 2019; very low food security among children was 0.6 percent. In 2019, the typical food-secure household spent 24 percent more on food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition. About 58 percent of food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest Federal nutrition assistance programs: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps); Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the National School Lunch Program during the month prior to the 2019 survey.