Mapping the Effects of a $15 Minimum Wage on Food Insecurity

For American families earning less than $40,000 per year, consistent access to food is far from a given. Food is a necessary expense, of course, but compared to housing and utilities, it’s a flexible one. On average, food comprises between 13.7 and 15.3 percent of a family’s annual expenditures in the U.S. But when budgets tighten for low-income families, hunger often follows. Around 17.4 million American families report inadequate resources to provide enough food to keep all members healthy and active. Rates of food insecurity skyrocketed during the Great Recession, and the economy’s slow climb back toward health has barely alleviated this concern.

While 15 domestic food and nutrition assistance programs currently exist to aid food-insecure families, a new report from The Century Foundation proposes a stronger foundation for that safety net: raising the federal minimum wage to $15.