Food Insufficiency among Job-Loss Households during the Pandemic: The Role of Food Assistance Programs

Abstract

During the early stages of the pandemic, many households experienced a loss of employment income, which worsened food insecurity and food insufficiency across the United States. This study aimed to examine whether food assistance programs (FAPs) significantly alleviated food insufficiency (FI) among job-loss households during the pandemic. The analysis was conducted with nationally representative survey data (n = 229,668) collected across 50 states and D.C. in 2020. Spatial analysis and logistic regression were applied to analyze the patterns of FI and to assess the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), FAPs for children, and community FAPs. Approximately 18.6% of participants faced FI, 41% of whom experienced FI for the first time. SNAP significantly lowered the odds of being food insufficient by 24.5% among households who were already food insufficient before the pandemic and by 11.9% for households with children. FAPs for children slightly reduced FI among households with children, but those who participated in these programs still had higher prevalence of food insufficiency than those who did not. Community FAPs were not effective. The findings suggest increasing the benefit level of SNAP for households with lowest income, strengthening their partnership with community FAPs, and distributing more emergent assistance to the most vulnerable households.

Food Insecurity within a Public University and the Role of Food Assistance Programs Amid the Global Pandemic

“…Social disparities in FI persist in the United States (Li et al 2022). Higher rates of FI have been observed among students from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds, students with disabilities, students with children, and students who identify as pansexual, queer, bisexual, gay or lesbian, transgender, or nonbinary (Adamovic et al 2022;Soria et al 2020).…”

“…There is still much to learn about social disparities in FI among university students and the potential risk factors in the background of the COVID-19 pandemic (Jehi et al 2022). Furthermore, during the pandemic, it has become increasingly challenging to provide food assistance for university students due to campus closures, the implementation of physical distancing policies, and various consequences caused by the global pandemic (Blackmon et al 2021;Esobi et al 2021;Li et al 2022;Ahmed et al 2023). However, little is known about the relationship between students' utilization of FAPs and their FI, particularly among socially vulnerable students.…”

Health and non-health benefits and equity impacts of individual-level economic relief programs during epidemics/pandemics in high income settings: A Scoping Review

“…The PRISMA ow diagram is shown in Fig.1. Two-third of eligible studies used a survey study design(17, 19, 22, 28, 29, 32-34, 36, 38, 43-47, 50-54, 57, 59, 61, 63-67); others included quasi-experiment(25,41), simulation(20,22,27,55, 60, 69), observational(26, 38,49, 56), and randomized control trial design(42, 48, 58, 62).We identi ed 28 unique individual-level economic relief programs among eligible studies and categorized them into seven groups.Of the 50 eligible studies, three sets of seven studies reported on COVID-19 related unemployment assistance programs (18,19,22,23, 26,30,47), COVID-19 food assistance programs(22,24, 28,40,43,44, 46), and expanded paid sick leave (16,25, 34-36, 39, 49) in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and In uenza epidemic. Eleven eligible studies reported on COVID-19 cash transfer programs(17,20,45, 48,50,52,54, 56, 58, 68, 69); nine studies evaluated vaccine and…”