1. Food Insecurity during the “jobless recovery”: An
examination of food insecurity in the US,
2010-2013
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson
University of Massachusetts Boston
Department of Economics
June 21, 2015
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
2. Introduction
Food security a pressing issue around the world
Renewed attention to access to food after the global crisis of
2008 and the food crisis
In the US, food insecurity has been at a new normal since
2008
approximately 14% of households considered food insecure
5% of households very food insecure
Pressure on state and third sector organizations
Research question:
What is the relationship between employment and food
insecurity
We use the CPS-FSS for the period 2010-2013
We find that different measures of unemployment are strongly
negatively associated with food insecurity
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
3. Literature review
Two strands in the literature
1. Empirical literature
Main themes
1.1 Determinants of food insecurity (Gundersen et al., 2011; Nord
and Wilde, 2005; etc.)
1.2 Food sufficiency and assets (Leete and Bania, 2009; Guo,
2011; Riban and Hamrick, 2003)
1.3 Food security, needs and health (Cook et al, 2006, 2008;
Rose, 1999; Howard, 2011)
1.4 Policy interventions and food security (Gundersen 2006; Nord
2013)
2. Political economy/Social economics
2.1 Recession and the increase in food insecurity (Starr, 2011)
2.2 Community food security (Chen et al. 2015)
2.3 Food sovereignty (Madoff and Tokar, 2010; Patel, 2009;
Fairbairn, 2012)
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
4. Measuring food security
Current Population Survey - Food Security Supplement
(December Supplement)
Supplement to the main labor force survey in the US,
sponsored by the USDA
Nationally representative survey, covers approximately 42,000
households annually
Includes 18 questions on food access, material deprivation and
coping strategies
Number of food insecure conditions classifies households as
food secure
having low food security
having very low food security
Similar classifications for adult and child food security
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
5. Questions
1. We worried whether our food would run out before we got money to
buy more
2. The food that we bought just didn’t last and we didn’t have money
to get more
3. We couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals
4. Did you or other adults ever cut the size of your meals or skip meals
because there wasn’t enough money for food?
5. How often did this happen?
6. Did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t
enough money for food?
7. Were you ever hungry, but didn’t eat, because there wasn’t enough
money for food?
8. Did you lose weight because there wasn’t enough money for food?
9. Did you or other adults ever not eat for a whole day because there
wasn’t enough money for food?
10. How often did this happen?
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
6. Additional questions to households with children age 0-17
11. We relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed our
children because we were running out of money to buy food
12. We couldn’t feed a children a balanced meal, because we
couldn’t afford that
13. The children were not eating enough because we just couldn’t
afford enough food
14. Did you ever cut the size of any of the childrens meals
because there wasn’t enough money for food?
15. Were the children ever hungry but you just couldn’t afford
more food?
16. Did any of the children ever skip a meal because there wasn’t
enough money for food?
17. How often did this happen?
18. Did any of the children ever not eat for a whole day because
there wasn’t enough money for food?
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
12. Food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens: Use
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
13. Food pantries, food banks, soup kitchens: Presence
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
14. Empirical question
We use the CPS-FSS for 2010-2013
Nationally representative sample;: 174,025 observations for
the 4-year period
Interested in effect of labor force status on food security,
controlling for a series of other factors
Geographic controls: state dummies and
metropolitan/non-metropolitan status
Demographic controls: age, female-headed household,
household size
Education
Race
Family income
We estimate the effect using an ordered logit regression
Dependent variable is categorical variable with possible
outcomes: ”food security”, ”low food security”, ”very low
food security”
ML estimation
Reported odds ratios
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
15. Effect of labor force status on household food security
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Unemployed 1.950∗∗∗
1.766∗∗∗
2.008∗∗∗
1.822∗∗∗
(0.0568) (0.0608) (0.0621) (0.0668)
Discouraged Worker 1.572∗∗∗
1.578∗∗∗
1.556∗∗∗
1.539∗∗∗
(0.174) (0.175) (0.173) (0.175)
NILF - other 1.000 1.003 1.013 1.017
(0.0193) (0.0194) (0.0197) (0.0197)
LT unemployed 1.371∗∗∗
1.370∗∗∗
(0.0775) (0.0827)
Other unemployed 1.701∗∗∗
1.609∗∗∗
(0.0539) (0.0592)
Other LT unemployed 1.227∗∗
(0.0811)
Other disc. workers 1.500∗∗∗
(0.154)
N 173,298 173,298 172,408 172,395
Exponentiated coefficients; Standard errors in parentheses
∗
p < 0.05, ∗∗
p < 0.01, ∗∗∗
p < 0.001
Regressions include geographic, demographic, and year controls
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
16. Controls
Significant differences in food security across different regions,
household structures, education levels, demographic
characteristics
Race and origin
Black, native American, multi-race and other households less
food secure than similar white households
Asian households more food secure than similar white
households
Hispanic households less food secure
Education of household head negatively associated with food
security
Larger households are less food secure
Female headed households are less food secure than
male-headed households
Older households are more food secure
Households in metropolitan areas less food secure than similar
households
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
17. Conclusions
Results consistent with previous research on determinants of
food security
Additional research on the way that employment is associated
with food security
Need to consider policies that do not only maintain income
but prevent against loss of employment
Harry Konstantinidis and Ben Thompson Food Insecurity in the US during the “jobless recovery”
