To What Extent is Food Insecurity in US Households Frequent or Persistent?

Abstract

A measure of frequent or persistent food insecurity is calculated from responses to follow-up questions in the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement that asked respondents how often each indicator or food insecurity occurred. Cross-classification of households by the Frequent Food Insecurity Scale and the standard “ever-during-the-year” scale provides a richer picture of the prevalence of various temporal patterns of food insecurity than can be provided by the current standard measures. Determinants of frequent or persistent food insecurity are found to differ somewhat from the determinants of food insecurity at any time during the year.

Keywords:

• food security
• food security measurement
• food insecurity
• frequency of food insecurity
• chronic food insecurity
• persistent food insecurity

Notes

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The views are those of the author and may not be attributed to the Economic Research Service or the US Department of Agriculture.