Unemployment, SNAP Enrollment, and Food Insecurity Before and After California's COVID-19 Shutdown.
J Nutr Educ Behav
; 53(12): 1055-1059, 2021 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1536664
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To examine whether the decrease in very low food security (VLFS) observed in California shortly after California's coronavirus disease (COVID-19) shutdown remained throughout Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2020. To investigate associations among unemployment, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment, and VLFS across FFY 2020.METHODS:
Telephone interview responses from mothers from randomly sampled households from low-income areas throughout California to the 6-item US Department of Agriculture Food Security Survey Module identified VLFS families. Logistic regression examined VLFS rates before vs after California's COVID-19 shutdown, with race/ethnicity, age, and education as covariates. Pearson correlations were calculated for unemployment, SNAP enrollment, and VLFS.RESULTS:
Most (66.4%) of the 2,682 mothers were Latina. VLFS declined from 19.3% before to 14.5% after California's COVID-19 shutdown (adjusted odds ratio, 0.705; Pâ¯=â¯0.002). The correlation for unemployment and SNAP household participation was 0.854 (Pâ¯=â¯0.007), and for SNAP participation and VLFS was -0.869 (Pâ¯=â¯0.005). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Publicly-funded assistance programs may lower food insecurity, even during a time of increased economic hardship. Examining the specific factors responsible for the observed decline in VLFS has merit. Whether VLFS remains below the rate observed before California's COVID-19 shutdown is worthy of ongoing study.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Food Assistance
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Nutr Educ Behav
Journal subject:
Nutritional Sciences
/
Behavioral Sciences
/
Education
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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