Food Hardship during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Great Recession

James P. Ziliak

doi:10.1002/aepp.13099

Food Hardship during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Great Recession

James P. Ziliak

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

113 Scopus citations

Abstract

I compare the extent of food hardships in the United States among adults and seniors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insufficiency increased threefold compared to 2019, and more than doubled relative to the Great Recession. Food insufficiency among seniors increased 75% during the COVID period, but more than doubled when including reduced intake of food varieties. Receipt of charitable foods among disadvantaged adults spiked 50% in the COVID period, but the initial response among seniors was a sharp reduction, before rising. These patterns are consistent with strong social distancing measures enacted in response to the pandemic.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	132-152
Number of pages	21
Journal	Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy
Volume	43
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13099
State	Published - Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association

Funding

Acknowledgements: I received excellent research assistance from Hyein Kang and Kenneth Tester, and I am grateful to Craig Gundersen, Colleen Heflin, and Laura Tiehen for very helpful comments on earlier drafts. I received support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, grant # 58‐4000‐6‐0059‐R, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, grant AE00103, through the Institute for Research on Poverty at University of Wisconsin. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of any federal sponsor. 1

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health	AE00103
Economic Research Service	58‐4000‐6‐0059‐R

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

Keywords

Aging
Charitable food assistance
Food insecurity
Food insufficiency

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Development
Economics and Econometrics

Access to Document

10.1002/aepp.13099

Cite this

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abstract = "I compare the extent of food hardships in the United States among adults and seniors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insufficiency increased threefold compared to 2019, and more than doubled relative to the Great Recession. Food insufficiency among seniors increased 75\% during the COVID period, but more than doubled when including reduced intake of food varieties. Receipt of charitable foods among disadvantaged adults spiked 50\% in the COVID period, but the initial response among seniors was a sharp reduction, before rising. These patterns are consistent with strong social distancing measures enacted in response to the pandemic.",

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AB - I compare the extent of food hardships in the United States among adults and seniors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insufficiency increased threefold compared to 2019, and more than doubled relative to the Great Recession. Food insufficiency among seniors increased 75% during the COVID period, but more than doubled when including reduced intake of food varieties. Receipt of charitable foods among disadvantaged adults spiked 50% in the COVID period, but the initial response among seniors was a sharp reduction, before rising. These patterns are consistent with strong social distancing measures enacted in response to the pandemic.

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Food Hardship during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Great Recession

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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