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Family Structure and Child Food Insecurity: Evidence from the Current Population Survey

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Abstract

Food insecurity—the lack of consistent access to adequate amounts of food—remains a reality for many American families. Although children are usually protected from reductions in food intake even in households with low food security, about 8 percent of all households with children also experienced reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns. The research on child food insecurity and family structure is limited and the findings are mixed. Given the increasing complexity of families in the U.S., combined with sustained high levels of food insecurity during the last decade, a closer examination of this relationship is warranted. Using data from multiple years of the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (N = 39,619 households) this study finds that children growing up in complex family households are more vulnerable to food insecurity, on average, than children growing up in two biological married-parent households. The results also show higher odds of child food insecurity among single mother households than among married biological or married stepfamilies suggesting a protective effect of marriage beyond economic resources.

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Notes

  1. Control variables are associated with child food insecurity as expected based on prior research. Maternal education (more than a high school degree) and having higher logged income was significantly associated with reduced odds of food insecurity, while being Hispanic and having older children in the household was associated with an increase in the odds of food insecurity.

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Acknowledgements

This project was supported with a grant from the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research through funding by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Contract Number AG-3198-B-10-0028. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policies of the UKCPR or any agency of the Federal Government. Infrastructure support was provided by the Center for Family Research at Bowling Green State University which has core funding from The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development [R24HD050959]. Comments from the participants at the small grant conferences sponsored by the UK Center for Poverty Research, Craig Gundersen, James Ziliak, Wendy Manning and Alfred DeMaris are greatly appreciated. The author gratefully acknowledges the comments and suggestions from the anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Bowling Green State University, Center for Family and Demographic Research, Bowling Green, OH, USA

    Kelly Stamper Balistreri

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  1. Kelly Stamper Balistreri
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Correspondence to Kelly Stamper Balistreri.

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Balistreri, K.S. Family Structure and Child Food Insecurity: Evidence from the Current Population Survey. Soc Indic Res 138, 1171–1185 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1700-7

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