Food insufficiency remains above pre-pandemic levels for all Americans, but among Black and Latino households the problem is particularly acute, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey.
After peaking in December, economic hardship has eased in recent months, as vaccination and reopening have sent more Americans back to work. Still, 10 percent of adults — some 20 million Americans — reported that their household faced food insufficiency between May 26 and June 7, the latest survey period; 14 percent, or 10.5 million adults, said they were behind on rent. Particularly striking are the 27 percent of adults — 63 million people — who struggled to pay for basic necessities such as food, medical bills, student loans, rent or mortgage.
Parsing the data by race reveals stark inequities. While 7 percent of white families reported food insufficiency, the number was more than double for Black households, 15 percent of whom struggled to put food on the table. Among Latinos, the rate was 17 percent.
Against a backdrop of longstanding structural barriers, the new data indicate that “the economic recovery will take longer to reach” households of color, writes Catlin Nchako, a research analyst at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, in an analysis released this week. Disparities along racial lines aren’t limited to food access, as food insecurity largely stems from other forms of economic hardship. According to the survey, some 42 percent of Black households, along with 38 percent of Latino households, struggled to pay for basic household expenses, compared to 21 percent of white households.
Recent trends highlight the efficacy of government stimulus efforts: All forms of hardship dipped following both the December relief package and the American Rescue Plan, enacted in mid-March. But more than twice as many households — regardless of race — face food insufficiency than before the pandemic, when rates of hardship had hit record lows.
As Nchako writes, the recent data “highlight why policymakers need to do more to craft recovery legislation … that will support a more equitable recovery,” focused on investments in childcare and education, housing assistance and expanded food benefits.