Net worth poverty and food insecurity

Food insecurity is a widespread problem faced by American families, particularly those with children. It is clear that poverty contributes to food insecurity, but extant research focuses almost exclusively on income poverty (IP). We move beyond income-centric conceptions of poverty to propose that net worth poverty (NWP) is an important, but overlooked, measure of marginalization and financial hardship that puts families at risk of food insecurity. A family is NWP if they have insufficient net worth to meet basic needs for 3 months, and NWP has increased in recent decades even while IP declined. This paper explores how NWP and its two subcomponents—asset and debt poverty—relate to food insecurity using data from the 2015–2021 Panel Study of Income Dynamics on 5762 households with at least one resident child under 18. Net worth poor households were 11.3% more likely than households that were neither net worth nor income poor to be food insecure. Although asset poverty and debt poverty were associated with increased risks, asset poverty more than doubled the risk of food insecurity relative to debt poverty. Black and Hispanic child households were more likely to be NWP and food insecure than White households, but associations between poverty and food insecurity did not vary by racial and ethnic subgroup. Findings demonstrate how low wealth, including financial assets and debts, affect risks of food insecurity.

Duke Scholars

Author Lisa A. Keister Sociology

Author Lisa A. Gennetian Sanford School of Public Policy

Author Christina M. Gibson-Davis Sanford School of Public Policy