Household `Food Insecurity’ Declines

September 11, 2000

A new USDA report finds the number of U.S. households that experienced food insecurity declined by about 12% from 1995 to 1999, and the number of households that experienced hunger declined by 24% over the same period, but nearly 8 million people -- more than a third of them children -- lived in households that experienced hunger in 1999.

The report defines a food insecure household as one that is uncertain of having, or unable to acquire, adequate food to fully meet their basic needs because of inadequate resources. Households that are food insecure with hunger are those in which one or more members experienced hunger because of inadequate resources at least some time during the year.

Despite the improvement registered over the last five years, food insecurity remains a reality for many U.S. households. During the year ending April 1999, 10.1% (or 10.5 million) of the nation's almost 105 million households were food insecure, and 3% (or 3.1 million) experienced food insecurity with hunger.

The report, issued annually since 1997, found that in 1999 31 million Americans lived in food insecure households; 7.8 million people -- 5.1 million adults and 2.7 million children -- lived in households in which one or more members experienced hunger; among households of single mothers with children, nearly 30% were food insecure; 8% were food insecure with hunger.

Black and Hispanic households faced greater food-related hardship than the national average with both groups registering rates of food insecurity with hunger of about 6%. More than one-third of households with income below the federal poverty line were food insecure; 12% were food insecure with hunger.

For additional information on the report "Household Food Security in the United States, 1999," go to website: www.ers.usda.gov/