Hunger Facts & Poverty Statistics

Poverty, an issue, real problem, we  are supposed to admit.Albeit related, sustenance unreliability and neediness are not the same. Neediness in the United States is stand out of numerous elements connected with sustenance frailty. Truth be told, higher unemployment, lower family unit resources, and certain demographic qualities additionally prompt an absence of access to sufficient, nutritious nourishment. Perused on for national appetite and neediness certainties and measurements, or visit Map the Meal Gap for state-particular data. 

Neediness Statistics in the United States[i] 

In 2014: 

46.7 million individuals (14.8 percent) were in neediness. 

15.5 million (21.1 percent) youngsters less than 18 years old were in destitution. 

4.6 million (10 percent) seniors 65 and more seasoned were in destitution. 

The general national neediness rate as per the Supplemental Poverty Measure is 15.3 percent, as contrasted and the official destitution rate of 14.8 percent.[ii] 

Under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, there are 48.4 million individuals living in destitution, almost 2 million more than are spoken to by the official neediness measure (46.7 million).[iii] 

Low Food Insecurity and Food Insecurity in the US[iv] 

In 2014: 

48.1 million Americans lived in sustenance unstable family units, including 32.8 million grown-ups and 15.3 million kids. 

14 percent of families (17.4 million family units) were nourishment shaky. 

6 percent of families (6.9 million family units) experienced low nourishment security. 

Families with kids reported nourishment shakiness at a fundamentally higher rate than those without kids, 19 percent contrasted with 12 percent. 

Families that had higher rates of nourishment shakiness than the national normal included family units with youngsters (19%), particularly family units with kids headed by single ladies (35%) or single men (22%), Black non-Hispanic family units (26%) and Hispanic families (22%). 

In 2013, 5.4 million seniors (over age 60), or 9 percent of all seniors were sustenance insecure.[v] 

Sustenance unreliability exists in each area in the U.S., running from a low of 4 percent in Slope County, ND to a high of 33 percent in Humphreys County, MS.[vi] 

Fourteen states showed factually fundamentally higher family unit nourishment shakiness rates than the U.S. national normal of 14.3% between 2012-2014:[vii] 

Mississippi 22.0% 

Arkansas 19.9% 

Louisiana 17.6% 

Kentucky 17.5% 

Texas 17.2% 

Ohio 16.9% 

Alabama 16.8% 

Missouri 16.8% 

North Carolina 16.7% 

Oklahoma 16.5% 

Tennessee 16.3% 

Maine 16.2% 

Oregon 16.1% 

Kansas 15.9% 

Utilization of Charitable Food Assistance and Federal Food Assistance Programs 

In 2014, 61 percent of sustenance unreliable family units took an interest in no less than one of the three noteworthy government nourishment help programs –Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-some time ago Food Stamp Program), The National School Lunch Program (NSLP), and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) - in the earlier month.[viii] 

Sustaining America gives sustenance help to an expected 46.5 million individuals every year, including 12 million youngsters and 7 million seniors. In view of yearly salary, 72 percent of all Feeding America customer family units live at or beneath 100 percent of the government destitution level.[ix] 

Among all Feeding America customer families, 55 percent report getting SNAP benefits.[x] Nearly one-quarter (24%) of Feeding America customer families with youngsters less than 18 years old report accepting advantages through WIC.[xi] 

About all Feeding America customer family units with school-matured youngsters (94%) get free or decreased value school lunch through the National School Lunch Program, while not as much as half of the same populace (46%) take an interest in the School Breakfast Program's free or lessened cost breakfasts.[xii] 

Visit the Child Hunger Fact Sheet for additional data on tyke hunger truths and insights. 

[i] DeNavas-Walt, C. and B.D. Delegate. (2015). Pay and Poverty in the United States: 2014. U.S. Statistics Bureau. 

[ii] Short, K (2015). The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2014. (2015). U.S. Evaluation Bureau. 

[iii] Ibid. 

[iv] Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M., Gregory, C., and Singh, A. (2015). Family Food Security in the United States in 2014. USDA ERS. 

[v] Ziliak, J.P. and Gundersen, C. (2015). The State of Senior Hunger in America 2013: An Annual Report, Supplement. National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH). 

[vi] Gundersen, C., A. Satoh, A. Dewey, M. Kato and E. Engelhard. Map the Meal Gap 2015: Food Insecurity and Child Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level. Nourishing America, 2015. 

[vii] Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M., Gregory, C., and Singh, A. (2015). Family Food Security in the United States in 2014. USDA ERS. 

[viii] Ibid. 

[ix] Feeding America, Hunger in America 2014, National Report. August 2014. 

[x] Ibid. 

[xi] Ibid. 

[xii] Ibid. 

[xiii] U.S. Branch of Labor. Authority of Labor Statistics. 2014 Annual Average Unemployment Rates.