Families with children are more likely to face hardship in obtaining enough food year-round than households without them, says the anti-hunger Food Research and Action Center. Based on a Gallup survey, FRAC estimated that 20 percent of households with children nationwide suffers food hardship.
“Too many Americans are unable to afford enough food for their families,” said FRAC president Rob Weill. “These findings are simply unacceptable.” Food hardship rates declined slightly in 2015 from 2014’s level. The current hardship rate for households with children was 19.2 percent and for households without children, 14.2 percent. To calculate the rates, FRAC used responses to the question in a Gallup survey, “Have there been times in the past 12 months when you did not have enough money to buy food that you or your family needed?.” The poll also asked about the number of children in the household.
“Given how high child poverty rates are, compared to poverty rates for households without children, it is unsurprising that the food hardship rate is considerably higher in households with children,” said the FRAC report. The Census Bureau says the U.S. poverty rate is 13.5 percent overall, with a child poverty rate of 19.7 percent.