A household being unable to afford sufficient quality food, correlates with unemployment and poverty. Many New Yorkers have experience in having to find a living wage out of reach or face systemic barriers in order to achieve income stability and food security.
In the 1950s, an official way to measure poverty was developed. This was created to distinguish incomes that fall above within or below the poverty line. This was done by comparing a family or person’s income, to a set of upper limits that vary by family size and are determined to represent the smallest income required to support a family. Family or individuals with resources that fall below the baseline are considered poor. For a family of four, the poverty line is 25,000. (Feeding America) Estimated studies have found that a large portion of Americans (about 2/3) will experience at least one year of relative poverty at some point between the ages of 25 and 60.(Food Research and Action center)
Poverty and financial burdens play a key role in regards to food insecurity, thus resulting in major health consequences. Many adults suffer from food insecurity, but the vast amount of population who experience food insecurity are children. In 2016, about 40.6 million Americans and 12.7% of the population lived in poverty. This included nearly 13.2 million children or 18 percent of all children. In 2012, 24 % of households with income below the official poverty threshold, reported food insecurity among children, compared with 7% of non-poor households. (Garfinkel, Kaushal pg. 2).According to the Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS -FSS;), nearly 3% of poor households with children, reported very low food security among children versus less than 1 % of non-poor households (Garfinkel, Kaushal pg. 2). People or family with an income above the poverty line may still encounter material hardship. 10 million people who are suffering from food insecurity have an income that is too high to be eligible for any federal nutrition assistance programs, such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) or WIC (Women, Infant, and Children). A household that is faced with poverty also experiences a lot of other issues, stress, and burdens, therefore, triggering off many health problems. These factors go hand in hand because one is a direct result of another.( Feeding America) Due to the lack of resources and lack of finance, living in or near the poverty line have an adverse effect on health issues and worse health outcomes. As a result, less access to health care. Families or individuals who struggle to balance food cost, compete for housing, health care, and transportation. Therefore, the need for food to add nutritional value to one’s health becomes secondary. This creates a lot of medical issues. It would be beneficial to the economy to combat food insecurity because it would be less costly to help provide a family in need of nutritional value food, than to have to treat someone who has developed a medical condition in conjunction to food insecurity.
