Across the country, fewer people have struggled with reliable access to food because of insufficient income in recent years, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data from 2015 to 2019.
But the percentage of single mothers with children who struggled with food access remained steady over those four years, at about 15-16%.
For single fathers and married couples with children, the percentage who were food insecure decreased over the same time period. It dropped significantly for single fathers: from 10% in 2015 to 6.5% in 2019.
Women’s income is, on average, less than men’s, and women are more likely to stay at home to care for their children, according to The 19th.
In 2019, about 14% of all U.S. households with children experienced food insecurity.
Among them, 5.9% were considered “low food security,” which means parents could not provide adequate, nutritious food for their children at some point in a year because they lacked enough money. Some, 0.6%, were considered “very low food security”: these children were regularly hungry, skipped meals, or did not eat for a whole day at times.
Lead photo from Canva
