A new report from the Food Research and Action Center found that the food hardship rate for households across the country has increased from 15.1 percent in 2016 to 15.7 percent in 2017. The rate increase was higher for households with children, from 17.5 percent to 18.4 percent. The study comes as wages remain stagnant, despite falling unemployment.
The study determined that a household was experiencing food hardship if its residents “did not have enough money to buy food at some point in the past 12 months.” The Southeast and Southwest were the regions of the country most affected, with Mississippi having the highest rate of food hardship at 22 percent, or one in five households. North Dakota had the lowest rate, at 8 percent of households.
In some states, households with children experienced food hardship at a rate dramatically higher than those without children. In the District of Columbia, over 23 percent of households with children are experiencing food hardship, compared to just 12 percent of households without children.
The report recommends strengthening SNAP and nutrition programs, creating jobs and raising wages, and other policy solutions. Read the full report here.