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."

(All quotations, survey results, figures and methodology can be found at Hungry at Thanksgiving: A Fall 2020 Update on Food Insecurity in the U.S., The Hamilton Project and other articles in the series.)


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


    

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