The Differential Incidence and Severity of Food Insecurity by Racial, Ethnic, and Immigrant Groups over the Great Recession in the United States

Abstract

We document the differences in food insecurity incidence and severity by race/ethnicity and immigrant status over the Great Recession. We show that the disadvantaged groups with a higher incidence of food insecurity do not necessarily have a higher severity of food insecurity, which underscores the importance of examining both the extensive and intensive margins of food insecurity. Our decomposition analysis indicates that the contribution of compositional and structural factors to the observed differences in exposure to food insecurity is heterogeneous across these groups and over the Great Recession. Finally, SNAP does not seem to fundamentally change the patterns documented.

Food Security Dynamics in the United States, 2001-2017

“…The SFIG measure is 33 times greater for the most food insecure group (households headed by a non-White woman with no more than a high school education) as compared to that of the most food secure group (households headed by White men with a college education). Despite strong and positive correlation between prevalence and severity, higher prevalence does not necessarily imply higher severity, consistent with earlier findings based on HFSM data from the CPS (Flores-Lagunes et al 2018). For example, among the female-headed households, those with a non-White head with high school education are more likely to be food insecure than those headed by a White woman without a high school degree, but its SFIG is lower.…”

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Food Pantry Use and Barriers in Massachusetts during the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Racial disparities in food insecurity have been documented for many years and throughout different economic crises [14,31]. Structural racism contributes to and reinforces the disparately negative effects of food insecurity, which have been exacerbated by COVID-19 [32][33][34].…”

“…Food insecurity prevalence is estimated to be three times higher among non-Hispanic Black households and two times higher among Hispanic households compared to non-Hispanic White households [3]. This discrepancy may be due in part to barriers that prevent equal access to food assistance programs [12][13][14]. For example, a study among Latin American immigrants in Toronto found that barriers to food access were, in part, due to language barriers leading to limited awareness of community food resources and limited availability of culturally preferred foods [15].…”

A call for justice work in agricultural and applied economics

“…Why do these disparities exist? Alfonso Flores‐Lagunes, Hugo Jales, Judith Liu, and I explored differences in food insecurity by race, ethnicity, and immigrant status (Flores‐Lagunes et al, 2018). With the Oaxaca‐Blinder decomposition approach, we controlled for observables that contribute to food insecurity, such as household head's race, age, marital status, and presence of children, among others, and we used instruments to account for the effects of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).…”