U.S. Food Insecurity on the Rise

During the pandemic year of 2020, food insecurity had already ticked up in the United States. Now, the inflation crisis has intensified this issue even more. It was especially families with children that suffered during Covid-19 as school lunches disappeared and they have been hardest hit again in 2022 and 2023. The USDA just published its latest report on the issue, showing that last year, almost 18 percent of households where children lived were food insecure, up from 17.3 percent in 2022 and 12.5 percent in 2021. The negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the inflation crisis on food security still stayed behind those of the Great Depression between 2008 and 2011, however.

Looking at all household, 13.5 percent were classified as food insecure by the USDA most recently, defined as experiencing difficulty to meet basic food needs in the span of one year, including the inability to buy enough food, buy balanced meals or eat regular portion sizes as well as skipping meals, experiencing hunger and worry about food. In 2021, this share had been 10.2 percent.

While the share of food-insecure households rose in the U.S. in 2023, so did the share of adults living in them - from 13.5 percent to 14.3 percent. The share of U.S. children living in a food-insecure household rose as well from 18.5 percent to 19.2 percent. However, according to the USDA, it was often the adults in food-insecure households who restricted food intake, while attempting to shield children – especially younger ones – from negative effects.

Household with children number around 36 million in the U.S., around 27 percent of all households, while children themselves make up around 22 percent of U.S. residents at 72 million.