The U.S. Is Still a Long Way From Eliminating Food Insecurity

Food insecurity in America is an issue that can be hard to see. It is not synonymous with poverty: two-thirds of food-insecure households have incomes above the national poverty level, according to new data from The Hamilton Project. The same report also demonstrates that the way food insecurity is measured often masks the extent of the problem. Instances of food insecurity often arise suddenly and temporarily, and as a result are difficult to track from year to year.

The report illustrates how rates of food insecurity increased across the U.S. after the recession in 2007, and have yet to come back down. This is especially obvious in households with at least one child. From 1998 to 2007, an average of 15.7 percent of households with children reported food insecurity. That number increased roughly four percentage points in 2008, and has maintained since. Employment rates have been on the rise in recent years, but the report concludes that there’s still a lag in economic stability. While 85 percent of food-insecure households with children are headed by at least one parent who works, the report explains: