What is food insecurity?

How Is Food Insecurity Measured?

The USDA uses a standardized 18-question survey module (the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module) administered through the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. Households are classified into four categories based on their responses:

• High food security: No problems or anxiety about consistently accessing adequate food
• Marginal food security: Anxiety about food sufficiency but little or no reduction in food intake
• Low food security: Reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet, but little or no indication of reduced food intake
• Very low food security: Disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake due to lack of money or other resources — one or more household members skipped meals or went without eating

"Food insecurity" encompasses the bottom two categories. In 2024, 8.3% of households had low food security and 5.4% had very low food security.

Why Is Food Insecurity Rising?

The rise in food insecurity from 10.2% in 2021 to 13.7% in 2024 coincided with several developments that researchers cite as contributing factors, though their relative weight is not established:

• Cumulative price shock: Grocery prices were 31.9% above January 2020 as of September 2026, computed from seasonally adjusted BLS Food-at-Home CPI series CUSR0000SAF11. That cumulative price-level increase is relevant context for food access.
• SNAP benefit reversion: Emergency pandemic SNAP allotments ended in March 2023, cutting average monthly benefits by $90-$250 per household. This single policy change affected 42 million participants.
• School meal funding: Universal free school meals ended in most states after the 2021-2022 school year, requiring families to reapply for free/reduced-price lunch and increasing food costs for households with children.
• Savings buffer exhaustion: Pandemic-era savings that previously cushioned food budget flexibility have been depleted, with the personal savings rate falling to multi-year lows.

Food Insecurity and Financial Distress

Food insecurity is both a symptom and a cause of broader financial distress. The relationship is bidirectional:

• As a symptom: Households cut food spending as one of the first budget adjustments during financial stress — before missing rent, before missing car payments, before missing mortgage payments. Food is the "flexible" budget line that gets compressed first.
• As a cause: Chronic food insecurity degrades health, increases medical costs, reduces work productivity, and impairs children's educational outcomes — all of which worsen long-term financial prospects.

Food insecurity is associated with later payment problems: households that are food insecure are more likely to also fall behind on rent, mortgage, and utility bills. American Default has not published a validated model estimating how far food insecurity leads delinquency or default, so no specific lead time is claimed here.

Food Assistance Programs

Several federal and state programs address food insecurity:

• SNAP: The largest program, providing monthly electronic benefits to purchase food. Eligibility is based on income (generally below 130% of poverty) and assets. Apply through your state's SNAP office or at benefits.gov.
• WIC: Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Provides food packages, nutrition education, and healthcare referrals for pregnant women, new mothers, and children under 5.
• School meals: National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program provide free or reduced-price meals to children from qualifying households.
• Food banks: Feeding America's network includes over 250 food banks and 60,000 meal programs that help communities access food. Find a local food bank at feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank.