UNEMPLOYMENT DRIVES FOOD INSECURITY

Food insecurity in America is not a new problem, but the Great Recession made it worse. Now, about 49 million people in the U.S. are living in food insecure households, and nearly 47 million receive assistance from national food banks. A recent analysis of Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study argues that unemployment is a major driver of the food insecurity that exists in every county. While poverty is an important underlying factor in food insecurity rates, results from Map the Meal Gap 2014 indicate that across all 3,143 counties, unemployment is the primary driver in variation in food insecurity. A one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate leads to a 0.51 percentage point increase in food insecurity, while a one percentage point increase in the poverty rate leads to a 0.19 percentage point increase. 

Source: London School of Economics, 9/16/14, Food Insecurity & Unemployment