Household Food Security in the United States in 2010
by
Alisha Coleman-Jensen,
Mark Nord,
Margaret Andrews, and Steven Carlson
Economic Research Report No. (ERR-125) 37 pp, September 2011
Most U.S. households have consistent, dependable access to
enough food for active, healthy living-they are food secure. But a
minority of American households experience food insecurity at times
during the year, meaning that their access to adequate food is
limited by a lack of money and other resources. Food and nutrition
assistance programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
increase food security by providing low-income households access to
food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education. USDA monitors the
extent and severity of food insecurity in U.S. households through
an annual, nationally representative survey. Reliable monitoring of
food security contributes to the effective operation of these
programs as well as private food assistance programs and other
government initiatives aimed at reducing food insecurity. This
report presents statistics on households' food security, food
expenditures, and use of food and nutrition assistance programs in
2010.
What Were the Study Findings?
The percentage of U.S. households that were food insecure
remained essentially unchanged from 2009 to 2010, while the
percentage with food insecurity in the severe range described as
very low food security declined.
• In 2010, 85.5 percent of U.S. households were food secure
throughout the year. The remaining 14.5 percent (17.2 million
households) were food insecure. Food-insecure households (those
with low and very low food security) had difficulty at some time
during the year providing enough food for all their members due to
a lack of resources. The change from the 2009 estimate (14.7
percent) was not statistically significant.
• In 2010, 5.4 percent of U.S. households (6.4 million
households) had very low food security, a statistically significant
decline from 5.7 percent in 2009. In these households, the food
intake of some household members was reduced and normal eating
patterns were disrupted due to limited resources. They comprised
about one-third of all food-insecure households. Declines in the
prevalence of very low food security were greatest for households
with children, women
living alone, and households with annual incomes below 185 percent
of the poverty line.
• Children were food insecure at times during the year in 9.8
percent of households with children (3.9 million households), down
from 10.6 percent in 2009. These households were unable at times
during the year to provide adequate, nutritious meals for their
children.
• While children are usually shielded from the disrupted eating
patterns and reduced food intake that characterize very low food
security, both children and adults experienced instances of very
low food security in 1.0 percent of households with children
(386,000 households) in 2010, essentially unchanged from 1.2
percent in 2009. However, among households with children in which
incomes were below 185 percent of the poverty line, the percentage
with very low food security among children declined from 2.9
percent in 2009 to 2.1 percent in 2010.
• Rates of food insecurity were substantially higher than the
national average for households with incomes near or below the
Federal poverty line, households with children headed by single
women or single men, and Black and Hispanic households. Food
insecurity was more common in large cities and rural areas than in
suburban areas and other outlying areas around large cities.
• On a typical day, the number of households with very low food
security was a small fraction of the number that experienced this
condition "at some time during the year." Typically, households
classified as having very low food security experienced the
condition in 7 months of the year, for a few days in each of those
months.
• The typical food-secure household spent 27 percent more for
food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and
composition, including food purchased with Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (formerly called food
stamps).
• Fifty-nine percent of food-insecure households in the survey
reported that in the previous month they had participated in one or
more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance
programs.
How Was the Study Conducted?
Data for the ERS food security reports come from an annual
survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as a supplement to the
monthly Current Population Survey. USDA sponsors the annual survey,
and USDA's Economic Research Service compiles and analyzes the
responses. The 2010 food security survey covered 44,757 households
comprising a representative sample of the U.S. civilian population
of 119 million households. The food security survey asked one adult
respondent in each household a series of questions about
experiences and behaviors that
indicate food insecurity, such as being unable to afford balanced
meals, cutting the size of meals because of too little money for
food, or being hungry because of too little money for food. The
food security status of the household was assigned based on the
number of food-insecure conditions reported.