Household Assets and Food Security: Evidence from the Survey of Program Dynamics

This study uses the Survey of Program Dynamics data to examine the independent role of household assets in food security. It further examines whether assets provide a buffer for low-income households to food insecurity in the face of income losses. Results of the Two-Part Model analyses show that household assets have a significant association with food security in both the full sample and the low-income sample. In the presence of household assets, income’s effect on food security decreases. In addition, the significant interaction terms of income loss and household assets indicate that assets provide resources to smooth food consumption. The findings of this study suggest a consideration of asset building strategies in asset related provisions of current food assistance policy.     

Household Finance and Food Insecurity

Despite repeated expansions of federal food assistance, food insecurity and hunger continue to affect many Americans. While job loss and poverty are among major contributors, theoretical and empirical literature suggest that households’ ability to borrow and save might provide a buffer protecting from food insecurity. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we tested whether liquidity constraint, asset inadequacy, and insolvency risk defined based on financial ratios could predict household food insecurity separately from the effects of income and program participation. Results showed that a household’s liquidity constraint and asset inadequacy were linked with increased risk of food insecurity at all income levels, although the association was strongest among poor households and those with incomes slightly above the federal food assistance eligibility threshold. Unlike indications from qualitative literature, financial constraint appeared to be an exogenous determinant of household food insecurity. Implications for financial practitioners and policymakers are discussed.     

Primary Care Providers’ Perspectives on Screening Older Adult Patients for Food Insecurity

Food insecurity has been associated with poor health and health outcomes among older adults, yet food assistance resources are available and underutilized. Routine screening and referral for food insecurity in primary care is one avenue to connect food-insecure older adults with available resources. This qualitative study aims to better understand the beliefs of primary care providers (PCPs) about food security screening and referrals in a primary care setting and perceived barriers to implementation. PCPs (n = 16) who have older adult patients but do not routinely screen for food insecurity were interviewed by phone. PCPs recognize the importance of food security for older patients and discuss nutrition and food access with patients under certain circumstances. Concerns emerged with regard to implementing a systematic screening and referral process: limited time to meet with patients, a lack of resources for addressing food insecurity, and prioritizing food insecurity at both the health system and the patient levels. Despite perceived challenges, PCPs are receptive to the idea of systematically screening and referring patients to external resources for food assistance and support. Barriers could be addressed by health systems prioritizing food insecurity as a health concern and public and private payers providing reimbursement for screening.     

Does SNAP serve as a safety net for mothers facing an economic shock? An analysis of Black and White unwed mothers' responses to paternal imprisonment

In an era of increasing economic insecurity and declining welfare assistance, scholars and policy makers have increasingly recognized the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps) as an important safety net for disadvantaged families facing a loss of income. Research on welfare and race has found that SNAP use is more frequent among Black families than White families. However, scholars have overlooked another potential source of race-based variation in the use of SNAP: differences in how Black and White mothers use SNAP as a safety net when facing an economic shock such as fathers' imprisonment. Analyses using difference-in-difference-in-difference methods suggest that while Black mothers generally receive a higher level of SNAP benefits than White mothers, SNAP benefit increases following fathers' imprisonment are less effective in compensating for the loss of income among Black mothers than among White mothers. Additional analyses, including a propensity score matching model, produce consistent results. The racial difference in income shock to families caused by paternal imprisonment does not account for this racial disparity. These findings highlight an important mechanism through which an income shock such as paternal imprisonment can produce particularly negative consequences for Black children.     

Household Income,Women's Earnings,and Spending on Household Services, 1980–2010

The authors investigated changes in household outsourcing, the practice of spending on services that replace household labor, from 1980 to 2010. During this time, women's labor force participation, increased and economic, household bargaining, and time availability theories predict increased spending during this period. To test these predictions, the authors used data on spending on housekeeping, day care, babysitting and nannies, gardening and lawn services, eating out and pre‐prepared foods from the 1980–2010 Consumer Expenditure Surveys using 327,903 household‐quarters from the interview survey and 86,877 household‐weeks from the diary survey. The results indicate that changes in income predicted increases in housekeeping, child care, and gardening services. Changes in household characteristics predicted little change in food outsourcing, although food outsourcing did increase. Changes in women's earnings predicted little change in most outsourcing. The authors conclude the article with a discussion of the changing context for outsourcing.     

Financial Strain and Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has increased over the past decade. Although poverty and sudden financial shock faced by households via unanticipated adverse events, such as sudden loss of income, are among major contributors, the findings of our study suggest that having an adequate stock of savings and financial assets might reduce the probability of household SNAP participation. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we tested whether a household’s emergency savings, asset poverty, and debt burden could predict SNAP participation separately from the effects of income and program participation. Results demonstrate that a household’s lack of emergency savings and asset inadequacy increased the probability of its SNAP participation. Implications for financial practitioners and policy makers are discussed.     

South‐South Migration and Urban Food Security: Zimbabwean Migrants in South African Cities

The drivers of food insecurity in rapidly‐growing urban areas of the Global South are receiving more research and policy attention, but the precise connections between urbanization and urban food security are still largely unexplored. In particular, the levels and causes of food insecurity amongst new migrants to the city have received little consideration. This is in marked contrast to the literature on the food security experience of new immigrants from the South in European and North American cities. This article aims to contribute to the new literature on South‐South migration and urban food security by focusing on the case of recent Zimbabwean migrants to South African cities. The article presents the results of a household survey of migrants in the South African cities of Cape Town and Johannesburg. The survey showed extremely high levels of food insecurity and low dietary diversity. We attribute these findings, in part, to the difficulties of accessing regular incomes and the other demands on household income. However, most migrants are also members of multi‐spatial households and have obligations to support household members in Zimbabwe. We conclude, therefore, that although migration may improve the food security of the multi‐spatial household as a whole, it is also a factor in explaining the high levels of insecurity of migrants in the city.     

Rewards of Fostering Children with Disabilities

Poverty and hunger are increasingly significant issues facing the United States. An additional trend, the consolidation in food retail, also contributes to food insecurity. This qualitative study of rural food insecure households investigates how assistance services and retail consolidation affect hunger for households in a changing rural environment. The data shows disparities exist in the amount of food assistance available based on household levels of social integration and social capital, leaving less connected residents experiencing hunger.     

The structural roots of food insecurity: How racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity

Rates of food insecurity skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, doubling overall and tripling among households with children. Even before the pandemic, the rate of food insecurity in the United States was “unusually high” compared to other rich democracies, and rates have not improved substantially over the last 25 years. What explains the lack of progress in addressing food insecurity? This article maps out an overview of the experiences, causes, and consequences of food insecurity in the United States. We demonstrate that racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity, both because racism contributes to racial disparities in income and wealth, and because racism is linked to food insecurity independent of poverty and socioeconomic status. For example, people of color are more likely to experience racial discrimination, which is associated with food insecurity, and to live in states where stricter regulations and harsher punishments are tied to social assistance programs, including food assistance programs. Because racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity, eliminating it requires going beyond “just” eliminating poverty. Instead, the fundamental cause must be tackled directly: racism itself, which is built into the structure of American society and entrenched in its institutions.     

Immigrant socioeconomic mobility in the United States: Mechanisms of inequality and the role of ethnic capital

We review recent social science research on the socioeconomic mobility of immigrants to the United States by focusing on the educational, occupational, and income attainments among immigrant adults, the first‐generation, and the educational attainment of their children, the New Second‐Generation. Existing research has identified significant inequalities in educational attainment between second‐generation Asian and Latinx immigrant groups. Researchers have also highlighted the importance of ethnic capital for mobility, but we find that they have largely proceeded with the assumption that co‐ethnic ties are easily available as a benefit for immigrants upon resettlement. We propose that future research on immigrant socioeconomic mobility should incorporate conceptual insights from economic and cultural sociology as well as use comparative ethnographic research designs to directly observe how ethnic capital operates to challenge or reinforce patterns of socioeconomic inequality.     

Family Adaptations to Income and Job Loss in the U.S.

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines the extent to which families experience major economic setbacks and how they respond. Families that experience a substantial loss of income or work hours are more likely to cut back on expenditures, receive public assistance, experience divorce or separation, and move. No evidence that partners are able to compensate for a major income loss by increasing their work hours was found. Initial conditions, such as income and assets, the unemployment rate of the area, and race, affect how a family adapts. Families with fewer resources and those who live in areas of high unemployment are more likely to rely on public assistance, and they are less likely to move, increase the work hours of the female head of household, or cut food expenditures.     

Father Doesn’t Know Best? Parents’ Control of Money and Children’s Food Insecurity

Although developing‐country research has found that spending on children varies depending on which parent controls income, developed‐country research tends to ignore intrahousehold allocation. This study uses Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study data (N= 1,073 couples) to analyze how mothers versus fathers controlling money affects U.S. children’s food insecurity. Results show children are far less likely to experience food insecurity when parents’ pooled income is controlled by their mother than when it is controlled by their father or even when it is jointly controlled. By examining this association between resource control and child well‐being, this study suggests that child outcomes may be improved by altering control over household money, responsibility for feeding work, or both.     

The Receipt of Government Food Assistance: Differences Between Metro and Non-Metro Households

This research investigated differences in households’ receipt of government food assistance through such programs as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children; free and reduced school meals; and related local and/or federal programs. With panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation that span the Great Recession, differences in the receipt of government food assistance in metro and non-metro areas were identified. Longitudinal random effects models suggest that despite relatively similar levels of food insecurity in 2005 and 2010, a higher proportion of non-metro households received government food assistance. Results also suggest that this assistance gap widened post-recession when government resources were expanded. These results inform a continuing debate about the efficient allocation of resources intended to reduce food hardship disparities, and increase family economic well-being, in metro and non-metro areas.     

Barriers to Economic Security: Disability,Employment, and Asset Disparities in Canada

Although ample research shows that people with disabilities face significant labor market barriers, questions remain about whether and how disadvantages in employment and earnings contribute to economic insecurity. We use 1999 to 2012 Canadian Survey of Financial Security data to study disparities in nonhousing assets, which include household savings, stocks, and pensions, across households with and without disabilities. We find that households where the respondent or their spouse reported a disability held 25 percent less in nonhousing assets after accounting for key employment, education, and demographic factors. Demonstrating the more complicated relationship between disability, employment, and assets, these direct effects were further strengthened by disability's indirect effects on assets through its relationship with employment income.     

Neighborhood poverty and children's food insecurity

Food insecurity among children and their families negatively affects children's health and well-being. While the link between household resources and food insecurity is well-established, family income alone does not explain food insecurity; neighborhood disadvantage, shown to affect other areas of children's development, may also play a role in food insecurity. This study examines associations between neighborhood poverty and children's food insecurity, and whether family characteristics account for identified associations. We merge data on kindergarten-age children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten 2010–11 Cohort (ECLS-K:2011) with data on poverty rates from the American Community Survey (ACS) and on food access from the USDA's Food Environment Atlas using children's residential census tracts (N = 12.550 children in 3750 tracts). Using a series of multilevel models, we test for associations between neighborhood poverty, household economic, demographic, and parenting characteristics, and food insecurity at the child, adult, and household levels. Children living in higher-poverty neighborhoods are more likely to experience food insecurity than those in lower-poverty neighborhoods. Associations between neighborhood poverty and household- and adult-level food insecurity disappear when household characteristics are controlled. However, living in a very high poverty neighborhood remains predictive of child-level food insecurity, which may be an indicator of severe hardship. Findings indicate that neighborhood poverty may be a useful proxy to identify vulnerable children.     

Small-scale farming in semi-arid areas: Livelihood dynamics between 1997 and 2010 in Laikipia,Kenya

The rural population of semi-arid lands in Kenya face multiple challenges that result from population growth, poor markets, land use and climatic changes. In particular, subsistence oriented farmers face various risks and opportunities in their attempt to secure their livelihoods. This paper presents an analysis on how livelihood assets and strategies of smallholders in Laikipia County, Kenya, have changed within the last decade and discusses the implications for development interventions. The analysis is based on bi-temporal data from 170 semi-structured household interviews in 1997 and a follow-up survey of 30 households conducted in 2010. Well-being indicators were developed and livelihood portfolios compared. The results show a striking persistence in low asset endowment for the majority of smallholders from an aggregated perspective, whereas transitions into and out of better livelihood conditions become evident from a household perspective. The investment in, and accumulation of, conventional buffer or productive assets, such as grain stocks, livestock or land, does not shield households from adverse shocks and stresses as smallholders were shown to easily slip back into poverty. Household portfolios display particular constraints for smallholders in expanding natural resource related activities and a substantial decrease in livestock numbers. While off-farm activities could possibly increase well-being, the prevailing low income levels and high insecurity for the majority who are engaged in off-farm employment, limits the ability to increase livelihood assets in the area.     

Family Development Cycle,Social Class,and Inequality in Rwanda1

Abstract The relative importance of social class differences (social differentiation) and stages of the family development cycle (demographic differentiation) on income inequalities in rural Rwanda are discussed and compared using survey data from 1,019 households. Both forms of differentiation are conceptualized as dynamic processes that intersect through their mutual inclusion of landholding—land being fundamental to our understanding of social class in the Third World and likewise closely tied to the timing of the developmental stages of the family cycle. Findings demonstrate that both forms of differentiation are vitally important, in roughly equal proportions, to household income generation in Rwanda. Emphasis is placed on the direct effects of the social class variables and on the indirect effects of the demographic differentiation process. The importance of the impact of contextual variables, such as land scarcity and the absence of alternative nonfarm employment, on income inequality are assessed.     

Breaking down rural and urban bias and interrogating spatial inequality,evidence from South Africa

This article investigates current socioeconomic disparities within rural and urban areas. The empirical analysis is grounded in an examination of urban and rural bias theories, which have often underpinned poverty analysis. This article suggests that poverty analysis can be improved by moving beyond the rural–urban binary and investigating differences across all geographical types (when data are available). Using 2012 household survey data on South Africa, the article sheds lights on substantial differences—in household composition and access to services and assets—that are likely to make households located in particular geotypes far more vulnerable to poverty. Finally, the article discusses how development policy can better address the specific income‐generating constraints that disadvantaged areas face.     

Younger Siblings Can Be Good for Your Health: An Examination of Spillover Benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a food assistance program designed to help pregnant (or postpartum) women and young children consume a nutritious diet. With WIC’s emphasis on providing healthy foods, and food being (generally) a communal commodity, age-ineligible children may benefit from living with a WIC participant. This paper used data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine whether age-ineligible children who lived in WIC households were in better health than similar children who lived in households that did not participate in the program. Results suggested that older males received a health benefit as a result of living in a WIC household; however, no similar effect was found for younger males or for female children.     

Expectations, Capital Gains, and Income

A theoretical framework for the measurement of income under uncertainty is developed that addresses some long-standing controversies about the treatment of capital gains. The consequences for economic analysis and policy making are potentially serious, because the treatment of capital gains can significantly affect some major macroeconomic aggregates, including national income and savings, balance of payments deficits, government deficits, and depreciation. (JEL O47 , P44 , Q32 )