WASHINGTON: As the US traditional festival Thanksgiving approaches, the Brookings Institution reported that food insecurity crisis is ongoing in the country, indicating a difficult time for many households during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lauren Bauer, a Brookings fellow in economic studies, wrote that although things got better in October than earlier in the pandemic, almost 10 per cent of young children’s parents have reported “their kids do not have sufficient food and they lack the resources to purchase more”, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.
Low-income families with children, the researcher analyzed, are most likely to experience an income loss, which may coincide with reporting low food security among the household’s children — the families may struggle even with federal support such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The worsening food insecurity is largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bauer. Figures show that around 50 percent of families with school-age children and 44 per cent of families with below-school-age children reported in October loss of income during the pandemic.
Similar findings were reported earlier in this season by an estimate by Northwestern University. The US national public radio quoted that “food insecurity more than doubled as a result of the economic crisis brought on by the outbreak”.
This means nearly one in four households have experienced food insecurity this year.
