A 30-Day Food Security Scale for Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement Data

Overview

This report describes and assesses a 30-day household food security scale that can be applied specifically to Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS) data. In the analysis described here, a 30-day scale was originally developed for use in the analysis of the 1995 CPS data. This report revises the scale to make it more consistent with the standard 12-month U.S. food security scale commonly used in food security household analyses. A nonlinear (Rasch-model-based) scaling method was used to statistically assess both the original and revised scales. The report specifies procedures for calculating the revised 30-day scale from CPS-FSS data and classifying households as to 30-day food security status. The report also compares prevalence rates of food insecurity with hunger based on the 30-day scale with those based on the 12-month scale for the years 1998-2000.