---
title: "Didn't Have Enough to Eat"
slug: didnt-have-enough-to-eat
summary: "8% of U.S. adults said their household sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the past month"
category: "Who's Hurting"
unit: percent
frequency: annual
direction: higher_is_worse
latest_value: 8.0
latest_period: "2025"
trend: stable
last_updated: "2026-10-15T00:00:00Z"
source: "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED)"
measurement_basis: "Share of U.S. adults who said that, in the past month, members of their household sometimes or often did not have enough to eat. SHED question FD3: \"In the past month, which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household?\" The share counts the answers \"Sometimes not enough to eat\" and \"Often not enough to eat\", weighted with the Board's survey weight, as a whole percent, as the Board prints it. The Board calls this food insufficiency. It is a one-question, one-month measure of adults, not USDA's 12-month household food insecurity scale. Asked each October since 2023 and published the following May."
source_url: https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed_data.htm
source_urls:
  - https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed_data.htm
  - https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-economic-hardships.htm
canonical_html: https://americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/
citation_apa: "Kilburn, R. (2026). Didn't Have Enough to Eat [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/"
citation_chicago: "Kilburn, Ross. 2026. \"Didn't Have Enough to Eat.\" American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/."
citation_mla: "Kilburn, Ross. \"Didn't Have Enough to Eat.\" American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/."
---

# Didn't Have Enough to Eat

> 8% of U.S. adults said their household sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the past month

## Current Reading

As of 2025, Didn't Have Enough to Eat is **8%** (stable).

Federal Reserve survey (SHED), asked in October 2025 and published the following May. The 2024 share was 7%, too small a difference to call a change.

## What Changed

- In the Fed's October 2025 survey, 8% of U.S. adults said their household sometimes or often didn't have enough to eat in the past month. That's about the same as 2024's 7%.

## Recent Values

| Period | Value |
|--------|-------|
| 2025 | 8% |
| 2024 | 7% |
| 2023 | 7% |

## Methodology

This indicator carries annual observations and is interpreted as higher values indicate worse household conditions. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED).
Measurement basis: Share of U.S. adults who said that, in the past month, members of their household sometimes or often did not have enough to eat. SHED question FD3: "In the past month, which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your household?" The share counts the answers "Sometimes not enough to eat" and "Often not enough to eat", weighted with the Board's survey weight, as a whole percent, as the Board prints it. The Board calls this food insufficiency. It is a one-question, one-month measure of adults, not USDA's 12-month household food insecurity scale. Asked each October since 2023 and published the following May.
Automation: collected automatically on the daily refresh pipeline, with no hand entry.

## Source

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED)
- [https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed_data.htm](https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/shed_data.htm)
- [https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-economic-hardships.htm](https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2026-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2025-economic-hardships.htm)

Data retrieved: 2026-10-15T00:00:00Z

## Related Indicators

- [household-food-insecurity-rate](https://americandefault.org/indicators/household-food-insecurity-rate/)

## Machine-Readable Endpoints

- HTML page: https://americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/
- JSON: https://americandefault.org/api/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat.json
- CSV: https://americandefault.org/api/downloads/didnt-have-enough-to-eat.csv
- BibTeX: https://americandefault.org/citations/didnt-have-enough-to-eat.bib
- RIS: https://americandefault.org/citations/didnt-have-enough-to-eat.ris

## Citation

**APA 7th**

    Kilburn, R. (2026). Didn't Have Enough to Eat [Data set]. American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/

**Chicago (author-date)**

    Kilburn, Ross. 2026. "Didn't Have Enough to Eat." American Default Research. https://americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/.

**MLA 9th**

    Kilburn, Ross. "Didn't Have Enough to Eat." American Default Research, 2026, americandefault.org/indicators/didnt-have-enough-to-eat/.

Use **American Default Research** as the institutional name in source lists, bibliographies, and press citations. **American Default** is the brand and URL form. **American Distress Index (ADI)** is the product name for the national composite score.