Food Insecurity in the United States and the Need for a New Direction for the Economy
Food insecurity is a constant feature of U.S. social
conditions. Elevated levels of food insecurity in U.S. households
during the pandemic are an indication of the severity of the current
economic crisis. Food insecurity is one more indication that the
current direction of the U.S. economy under the control of an immensely
wealthy oligarchy cannot solve its problems and provide for the people.
The aim of the global oligarchs for maximum private profit comes into
contradiction with the necessary aim of a modern socialized economy and
country to empower the people so they themselves can solve the problems
that affect their lives and direct the tremendous productive power of
the economy to meet their needs and guarantee their human rights.
The Hamilton Project conducted repeated surveys of families
during 2020 to investigate food insecurity during the pandemic while
also using other resources of the U.S. Census Bureau. Evidence was
found of a relationship between growing food insecurity and income loss
from unemployment or reduction in work hours, and the absence of
nutrition assistance programs. The Project says, "Food insecurity sits
at the intersection of the economy and health." The surveys reveal that
an alarming number of U.S. households "lack sufficient resources to
provide adequate nutrition to its members." The
surveys and reported figures reveal that around 50 per cent of all U.S.
families with school-age children and 44 per cent of families with
below-school-age children have experienced a loss of income during the
pandemic. The loss of income and growing insecurity about the future
have exacerbated the persistent U.S. problem of food insecurity. The
U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) quoted findings from Northwestern
University for 2020 that "food insecurity more than doubled as a result
of the economic crisis brought on by the outbreak." Nearly one in four
households has experienced food insecurity during 2020. The
current U.S. ruling elite, no matter which cartel political party holds
political power locally or nationally, have shown in practice that they
are unwilling to solve the problems of poverty, unemployment, recurring
economic crises and food insecurity. From the point of view of the
people, they have proven themselves "unfit to govern!" The
social, economic and political conditions cry out for a new direction
where an empowered people themselves solve the problems that affect
their lives. No reason or excuse in the world exists that a large
country with extensive agricultural possibilities, a developed economy
of industrial mass production including experienced modern farmers and
workers cannot meet the needs of its people for food and guarantee
their human rights. Discussion and organizing have
begun to bring into being a pro-social direction for the economy and
country with a commitment for democratic renewal to empower the people
to solve the problems that affect their lives, stop paying the rich,
increase investments in social programs, build an anti-war government
and economy, bring U.S. troops and all military equipment home now, and
affirm and guarantee the people's human rights.
The Hamilton Project Surveys The surveys found
10 per cent of parents of children five years old and under report
their kids do not have sufficient food and they lack the resources to
purchase more. For many families with school age children, the problem
of food security is compounded with the cessation of in-school lessons
resulting in the additional loss of school breakfast and lunch programs.
The Project writes, "Food insecurity is a leading indicator of
economic distress; food insecurity tends to rise before poverty rates
catch up. Low-income families with children are most likely to have
experienced an income loss (during 2020) and most likely to have an
income loss coincide with reporting very low food security among the
household's children. "Since
the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity has increased in
the United States. Figure 1 shows that in 2020, food insecurity among
all households and households with children remained elevated over 2019
levels and levels of food insecurity reported during the Great
Recession (2008-09). 
Figure 1 (click to
enlarge)
“Figure
2 shows a spike since March 2020 of parents reporting "their children
aren't getting enough to eat due to a lack of resources" and mothers
specifically who say "that it was sometimes or often the case that 'the
children in my household were not eating enough because we just
couldn't afford enough food'."
Figure 2
(click to enlarge)
The Brookings
Institution "Survey of Mothers with Young Children" shows 12 per cent
of mothers, who only have children five years old and under, reported
that their children did not have enough to eat in April 2020. This
percentage fell to 10 per cent in October and November after the
economy rebounded somewhat and some schools reopened. A
U.S. Census Bureau pulse survey "which has a larger sample size and
surveys both mothers and fathers," found similar results as the above
survey for parents who have children younger than school-age (12 per
cent to 10 per cent food insecurity). However, 17 per cent of parents
with children of all ages reported in June that they and their children
did not have enough to eat. This fell to 12 per cent in a pulse October
survey. The Project says the reports of parents and
children not having enough to eat in 2020 "is quite high by historic
standards." It writes, "A typical feature of recessions is that those
who had fewer means before the downturn suffer more during downturns
and for longer. Indeed, the loss of a job or income, as well as
unstable child care arrangements are associated with the onset of food
insecurity. The downturn instigated by the COVID-19 pandemic is also
likely to increase food insecurity even more: the loss of child care,
as well as meals provided at free or reduced cost at school and social
distancing guidance that restrict movement outside the home. "During
the COVID-19 pandemic, low-income families with children have been the
most likely to have lost earned income during 2020. About 50 per cent
of families with school-age children and 44 per cent of families only
with children who are below school-age reported in October 2020 that
they had experienced a loss of income during the pandemic. Of the
parents reporting that their children do not have sufficient food, 73
per cent of parents of school-age children and 71 per cent of parents
of only younger children also reported experiencing an income loss.
[...] "One-third of households with children with
2019 incomes above $150,000 reported an income loss (in 2020), about 60
per cent of families making below $50,000 in 2019 did. One-third of
households with children making less than $25,000 a year reported very
low food security among children. In addition to the direct
relationship between diminished purchasing power and children having
insufficient food, the loss of prepared school meals, supply chain
issues, and rising food prices make it harder to stretch a dollar."
The Project writes, "There are immediate and long-term health
consequences to inadequate nutrition and limited access to food.
Children born into food insecure households risk birth defects, and
children living in food-insecure households tend to have a lower
health-related quality of life, higher rates of asthma, less nutritious
diets, anemia, and cognitive and behavioural problems that affect
well-being and school performance. "In the first
five years of life -- the foundational years for brain and physical
development -- food insecurity directly and indirectly impedes healthy
development. That parents of children younger than five are reporting
such high rates of very low food security among their children, almost
10 per cent in two surveys fielded in October, is of urgent public
concern. "Deteriorating economic conditions caused
by the COVID-19 pandemic have made it even more difficult for many
low-income households, including those with children, to afford
groceries." In May 2020, The Project conducted a
broad survey of families with children to investigate food insecurity
since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Project "asked validated
questions taken from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) food
security questionnaire. Households and children are considered food
insecure if the respondent indicates the following statements were
often or sometimes true: 'The food we bought just didn't last and we
didn't have enough money to get more. The children in my household were
not eating enough because we just couldn't afford enough food'."
Regarding this and other surveys at the time, The Project
writes, "Figure 1 illustrates the high levels of food insecurity
observed in the COVID Impact Survey and in the Survey of Mothers with
Young Children. By the end of April, more than one in five households
in the United States, and two in five households with mothers with
children 12 and under, were food insecure. In almost one in five
households of mothers with children age 12 and under, the children were
experiencing food insecurity. "Rates of food
insecurity observed in April 2020 are also meaningfully higher than at
any point for which there is comparable data (2001 to 2018; Figure 2).
Looking over time, particularly to the relatively small increase in
child food insecurity during the Great Recession (2008-09), it is clear
that young children are experiencing food insecurity to an extent
unprecedented in modern times. "In the Survey of
Mothers with Young Children, 17.4 per cent of mothers with children
ages 12 and under, reported that since the pandemic started, 'the
children in my household were not eating enough because we just
couldn't afford enough food.' Of those mothers, 3.4 per cent reported
that it was often the case that their children were not eating enough
due to a lack of resources since the coronavirus pandemic began." [...]
"But responses to this question alone do not fully capture
child food insecurity. To estimate food insecurity, the USDA aggregates
a battery of questions on access to food from the Current Population
Survey. In total for 2018, 7.4 per cent of mothers with children under
the age of 12 had food insecure children in their household, more than
double the share who said that the children in their household were not
eating enough because they couldn't afford enough food (3.1 per cent).
If the ratio between this single question and the overall measure of
child food insecurity were to continue to hold today, 17.4 per cent of
children not eating enough would translate into more than a third of
children experiencing food insecurity. "The Survey
of Mothers with Young Children found that 40.9 per cent of mothers with
children ages 12 and under reported household food insecurity since the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is higher than the rate reported
by all respondents with children under twelve in the COVID Impact
Survey (34.4 per cent) but the same as women 18-59 living with a child
12 and under (39.2 per cent.) "In
2018, 15.1 per cent of mothers with children ages 12 and under
affirmatively answered this question in the FSS [Food Security
Supplement survey], slightly more than the 14.5 per cent that were food
insecure by the complete survey. The share of mothers with children 12
and under reporting that the food that they bought did not last has
increased 170 per cent. "Food insecurity in
households with children under 18 has increased by about 130 per cent
from 2018 to today. Using the COVID Impact Survey, I (Lauren Bauer,
Managing Director of The Hamilton Project) find that 34.5 per cent of
households with a child 18 and under were food insecure as of late
April 2020." [...] "High levels of food insecurity
are not just a problem of households with children. Prior to the
crisis, in 2018, 11.1 per cent of households were food insecure and
12.2 per cent of households answered the single question in the battery
affirmatively. The Urban Institute's Health Reform Monitoring Survey,
in the field from March 25 to April 10, used the six-question short
form food insecurity module and found that 21.9 per cent of households
with nonelderly adults were food insecure. By late April 2020, 22.7 per
cent of households reported in the COVID Impact Survey not having
sufficient resources to buy more food when the food that they purchased
didn't last. Overall rates of household food insecurity have
effectively doubled." [...] "New nationally
representative surveys fielded since the pandemic began show that rates
of food insecurity overall, among households with children, and among
children themselves are higher than they have ever been on record."
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 2 - February 7, 2021
Article Link:
Food Insecurity in the United States and the Need for a
New Direction for the Economy
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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