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Characteristics of Low-Income Households With Very Low Food
Security: An Analysis of the USDA GPRA Food Security Indicator
Mark Nord
Economic Information Bulletin No. (EIB-25), May 2007
The U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors the prevalence
of “very low food security” among low-income households
as a measure of how well the Government’s domestic nutrition
assistance programs are meeting the needs of their target populations.
Very low food security in a household means that at times during
the year, food intake of one or more household members is reduced
and normal eating patterns disrupted because the household lacks
sufficient money and other resources for food.
What Is the Issue?
USDA set a goal of reducing the prevalence of very low food
security among low-income households to 7.4 percent or below
by 2007 as part of its 2002-07 strategic plan, developed in
connection with the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
In 2005, the prevalence of very low food security among low-income
households stood at 12.6 percent, up from 10.9 percent in 2000.
Reversing this trend may require changes in nutrition assistance
policies and programs. Information about the composition, location,
employment, education, and other characteristics of households
with very low food security may provide important insights to
guide these policy and program changes and improve the food
security of economically vulnerable households.
What Did the Study Find?
To achieve the USDA food security target, the food security
of households with incomes that are less than 130 percent of
the poverty line will need to surpass the current level of food
security of households with incomes in the range of 130 to 150
percent of the poverty line. In 2005, when the data used in
this study were collected, the poverty line for a household
of four made up of two adults and two children was $19,806.
Nearly half of low-income households with very low food security
had one or more members employed. Just over half received assistance
from one or more of the three largest Federal nutrition assistance
programs—the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch
Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The prevalence of very low
food security among households receiving food stamps during
the study period was more than double the USDA target, and for
households that had recently left the Food Stamp Program, the
prevalence rate of very low food security was nearly three times
the target.
Low-income households with very low food security included
disproportionately large shares of men ages 19-64 living alone,
households headed by non-Hispanic Blacks, and households with
adult members who were unemployed or disabled. These profiles
of low-income households with very low food security suggest
that households’ food security depends on a number of
demographic, economic, geographic, and household structural
factors.
Achieving the GPRA food security objective may depend not only
on improving the effectiveness and accessibility of nutrition
assistance programs, but also on improving other key household
circumstances.
How Was the Study Conducted?
Data on households’ food security as well as their economic
and demographic characteristics were provided by the nationally
representative Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement
for 2005. The prevalence of very low food security was calculated
for low-income households (annual income less than 130 percent
of the poverty line) in selected demographic and economic groups.
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