Food Insecurity in US increased between 2021, 2022

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Urban Institute
22 Mar 2023 15:50

The share of adults reporting food insecurity increases in the United States from 20% to 24% between December 2021 and December 2022

People shop at a 99 Cents store in Santa Monica, California, on Sept. 13, 2022. (AFP)

A report by Urban Institute on Tuesday revealed that with significant food price inflation in 2022, food hardship has increased for many households across the country.

The share of adults reporting food insecurity increased in the United States from 20% to 24%, between December 2021 and December 2022. In 2022, the rate of food insecurity was not statistically different from the rate in the year preceding the pandemic (23.4% in 2019).

However, between 2019 and 2022, Hispanic/Latino and black adults were consistently at a greater risk of food insecurity than white adults, reflecting longstanding disparities in opportunity and access to resources.

One in 6 adults (16%) reported that their household received charitable food (groceries or free meals) in 2022, down from 17.4% in 2021, which translates to about 2.8 million fewer adults, and down from the peak in use in 2020 (19.7%), but much higher than the pre-pandemic rate in 2019 (12.7% or roughly 6.8 million other adults)

In December 2022, 63.2 percent of adults reported their household grocery costs increased a lot in the last year, higher than the shares reporting costs increased a lot for gasoline (55.5 percent), home heating (26.4 percent), rent (26.2 percent), childcare (14.3 percent), health insurance (12.5 percent), and mortgage payments (8.1 percent).

During the same period, 63.2% of adults reported their household grocery costs increased a lot in the last year, higher than the shares reporting costs increased a lot for gasoline, 55.5%, home heating 26.4 percent, rent 26.6%, child care 14.3%, health insurance at 12%, and mortgage payment at 8.1 %

Due to the recent spike in prices, 62% of adults whose grocery costs increased a lot reported either reducing the amount of food they bought or not buying the kinds of foods they wanted, 43.3% withdrew money from savings, and 36.3% increased credit card debt, while about 16.5% received charitable food.