Reducing hunger risk among older Americans requires a concerted policy effort that is informed by rigorous research on the extent, causes, and consequences of food insecurity. In this report we provide a comprehensive portrait of the causes and consequences of food insecurity among adults age 50-59 in comparison to those in their 40s and those 60 and older. We emphasize the 50-59 age cohort in part because they do not have access to an age-specific safety net like older Americans (or some younger ones), take-up rates in food assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) are low, and the scaring effects of job loss can be more severe. We complement our age-specific analyses by examining the full samples of adults age 40 and older, those adults age 50 and older, and the subsamples with family incomes below 200% and below 300% of the poverty line.
Seniors
Investigating senior hardships and food insecurity
UKCPR, with underwriting from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sponsored 17 research projects that focused on American seniors, ages 60 and older. The projects comprised three topical domains: (1) Describing households with food insecure seniors, including, but not limited to, factors such as functional status and ability to live independently, access to transportation, mental function, spousal health status, and social network and family connections; (2) Understanding factors underlying participation and re-certification in food assistance and other safety net programs; and (3) Evaluating the causal impact of food and non-food assistance programs on health and nutrition outcomes, as well as related outcomes such as consumption trade offs.
The funded projects were awarded through two competitive rounds, with the first eight awarded projects appearing in the June 2022 issue of Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy and the second nine projects appearing in the March 2023 issue of AEPP.
2011
2009
Senior hunger in the United States: Differences across states and rural and urban areas
Many pressing questions remain regarding the extent, causes, and consequences of senior hunger in America. Is the threat of senior hunger common across all states in the nation? Are there differences in hunger risk across urban and rural areas? In this follow-up study to our 2008 report entitled The Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger in America we document the geographic distribution of senior hunger across states and metropolitan location. With the addition of several more years of data, we also provide an update to our original report on the extent and distribution of senior hunger across the nation.
2008
The causes, consequences, and future of senior hunger in America
Hunger is a serious threat facing millions of seniors in the United States. Despite this important public health threat, we know very little about the face of hunger among seniors, the causes of senior hunger, its consequences for the well-being of seniors, or what will happen in the next twenty years with respect to hunger among senior Americans. Although federally-funded programs including the Elderly Nutrition Program (ENP) and the Food Stamp Program are designed to address food security and nutritional needs among senior Americans, studies demonstrate high levels of need still exist among seniors. Thus, it is important to expand our understanding of hunger among seniors in order to help develop strategies to reduce it.
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