Poverty i
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In 2008, 39.8 million people (13.2 percent) were in poverty.
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In 2008, 8.1 (10.3% percent) million families were in poverty.
- In 2008, 22.1 million (11.7 percent) of people aged 18-64 were in poverty.
- In 2008, 14 million (19 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.
- In 2008, 3.6 million (9.7 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.
Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security ii
- In 2008, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 32.4 million adults and 16.7 million children.
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In 2008, 14.6% percent of households (17.1 million households) were food insecure, an increase from 11.1 percent (13.0 million households) in 2007.
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In 2008, 5.7 percent of households (6.7 million households) experienced very low food security, an increase from 4.1 percent in 2007.
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In 2008, households with children reported food insecurity at almost double the rate for those without children, 21.0 percent compared to 11.3 percent.
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In 2008, households that were more likely to experience food insecurity were households with children (21.0 percent), households with children headed by single women (37.2 percent) or single men (27.6 percent), households with incomes below the poverty line (42.2 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (25.7 percent) and Hispanic households (26.9 percent).
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In 2008, 8.1 percent of households with seniors (2.3 million households) were food insecure
Use of Emergency Food Assistance and Federal Food Assistance Programs
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In 2008, 4.1 percent of all U.S. households (4.8 million households) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times. ii
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In 2008, food insecure (low food security or very low food security) households were 13 times more likely than food-secure households to have obtained food from a food pantry. ii
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In 2008, food insecure (low food security or very low food security) households were 14 times more likely than food-secure households to have eaten a meal at an emergency kitchen. ii
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In 2008, 55.0 percent of food-insecure households participated in at least one of the three major Federal food assistance programs – Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. ii
- Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to an estimated 25 million low-income people annually, an 8 percent increase from 23 million since Hunger In America 2001. iii
- Feeding America provides emergency food assistance to approximately 4.5 million different people in any given week. iii
- Among members of Feeding America, 65 percent of pantries, 61 percent of kitchens, and 52 percent of shelters reported that there had been an increase since 2001 in the number of clients who come to their emergency food program sites. iii
Ten states exhibited statistically significant higher household food insecurity rates than the national average (12.2%):
1.
Mississippi 17.4%
2.
Texas 16.3%
3.
Arkansas 15.9%
4.
Georgia 14.2%
5.
New Mexico 14.1%
6.
Missouri 14.0%
7.
Oklahoma 14.0%
8.
Kansas 13.8%
9.
Maine 13.7%
10.
North Carolina 13.7%