A new report from the United States Department of Agriculture showed that food insecurity is on the rise nationwide, with 13.5% of households being food insecure at least some time during 2023, compared to 12.8% in 2022.
The USDA defines food security as having "access at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members." As part of its report, it surveyed one adult per household about experiences and behaviors that could indicate food insecurity.
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In 2023, it found that 18 million households were food insecure nationwide. And from 2021 to 2023, food insecurity increased in states including Florida, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas.
The report also identified households with "very low food security," meaning at least one member of the household had reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns due to limited resources for food. Similarly to 2022, it found 5.1% had very low food security.
When comparing households with and without children, the report showed that more households with children struggled with food insecurity in 2023 than those without. While the USDA said it is more accurate to examine the number of "food insecure persons" reported in those households —since some adults will go hungry to ensure the children eat — there were still instances of children being food insecure.
The report noted that the percentage of food-insecure children stayed statistically similar from 2022 to 2023, going from 8.8% to 8.9%. Those numbers were both up from 2021 when 6.2% was reported.
The number of very low food-secure children also stayed statistically similar from 2022 to 2023, staying at 1%. But that's a jump from 2021, when the rate was 0.7%.
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While no reason was given for the jump, 2021 was also the first full year of the pandemic, meaning many kids and parents were still at home, stimulus checks had been issued, and the child tax credit had been increased.
Overall, when looking at which Americans struggled most with food insecurity, the USDA said these groups were affected the most:
- All households with children (17.9%)
- Households with children under age 6 (17.9%)
- Households with children headed by a single female (34.7%) or single male (22.6%)
- Women living alone (16.2%)
- Households with Black, non-Hispanic (23.3%) and Hispanic (21.9%) household reference persons
- Households with incomes below 100% of the poverty threshold (38.7%)
- Households in principal cities (15.9%)
- Households in the South (14.7%)
This story was originally published by Leilyn Torres on Scripps News Tampa.
