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Food insecurity and social protection in Europe: quasi-natural experiment of Europe's great recessions 2004–2012

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  • Loopstra, Rachel
  • Reeves, Aaron
  • McKee, Martin
  • Stuckler, David

Abstract

Food insecurity rose sharply in Europe after 2009, but marked variation exists across countries and over time.We test whether social protection programs protected people from food insecurity arising from economic hardship across Europe. Data on household food insecurity covering 21 EU countries from 2004 to 2012 were taken from Eurostat 2015 edition and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Cross-national first difference models were used to evaluate how rising unemployment and declining wages related to changes in the prevalence of food insecurity and the role of social protection expenditure in modifying observed effects. Economic hardship was strongly associated with greater food insecurity. Each 1 percentage point rise in unemployment rates was associated with an estimated 0.29 percentage point rise in food insecurity (95% CI: 0.10 to 0.49). Similarly, each $1000 decreases in annual average wages was associated with a 0.62 percentage point increase in food insecurity (95% CI: 0.27 to 0.97). Greater social protection spending mitigated these risks. Each $1000 spent per capita reduced the associations of rising unemployment and declining wages with food insecurity by 0.05 percentage points (95% CI:−0.10 to−0.0007) and 0.10 (95% CI:−0.18 to−0.006), respectively. The estimated effects of economic hardship on food insecurity became insignificantwhen countries spent more than $10,000 per capita on social protection. Rising unemployment and falling wages are strong statistical determinants of increasing food insecurity, but at high levels of social protection, these associations could be prevented.

Suggested Citation

  • Loopstra, Rachel & Reeves, Aaron & McKee, Martin & Stuckler, David, 2016. "Food insecurity and social protection in Europe: quasi-natural experiment of Europe's great recessions 2004–2012," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66829, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:66829
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    1. Craig Gundersen & Emily Engelhard & Elaine Waxman, 2014. "Map the Meal Gap: Exploring Food Insecurity at the Local Level," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 36(3), pages 373-386.
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    1. Elena Grimaccia & Alessia Naccarato, 2022. "Food Insecurity in Europe: A Gender Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 649-667, June.
    2. Bedük, Selçuk, 2018. "Identifying people in poverty: a multidimensional deprivation measure for the EU," SocArXiv 7prxq, Center for Open Science.
    3. Tulone, Antonio & Galati, Antonino & Pecoraro, Simone & Carroccio, Anna & Siggia, Dario & Virzì, Michele & Crescimanno, Maria, 2022. "Main intrinsic factors driving land grabbing in the African countries’ agro-food industry," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Filippo Oncini, 2021. "Food support provision in COVID-19 times: a mixed method study based in Greater Manchester," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 1201-1213, December.
    5. Hanna Dudek, 2019. "Households’ Food Insecurity in the V4 Countries: Microeconometric Analysis," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 21(51), pages 377-377.
    6. Shahidi, Faraz Vahid & Muntaner, Carles & Shankardass, Ketan & Quiñonez, Carlos & Siddiqi, Arjumand, 2019. "The effect of unemployment benefits on health: A propensity score analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 198-206.
    7. Drieda Zaҫe & Maria Luisa Di Pietro & Laura Reali & Chiara de Waure & Walter Ricciardi, 2021. "Prevalence, socio-economic predictors and health correlates of food insecurity among Italian children- findings from a cross-sectional study," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 13-24, February.
    8. Poliana Araújo Palmeira & Ruben Araújo Mattos & Rafael Pérez-Escamilla & Rosana Salles-Costa, 2021. "Multisectoral government programs and household food insecurity: evidence from a longitudinal study in the semiarid area of northeast, Brazil," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(3), pages 525-538, June.
    9. Petrescu-Mag, Ruxandra Mălina & Petrescu, Dacinia Crina & Reti, Kinga-Olga, 2019. "My land is my food: Exploring social function of large land deals using food security–land deals relation in five Eastern European countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 729-741.
    10. Bell, Zoë & Scott, Steph & Visram, Shelina & Rankin, Judith & Bambra, Clare & Heslehurst, Nicola, 2022. "Experiences and perceptions of nutritional health and wellbeing amongst food insecure women in Europe: A qualitative meta-ethnography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    11. repec:aud:audfin:v:21:y:2019:i:51:p:377 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    food insecurity; social protection; recession;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N0 - Economic History - - General
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

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