Written by Anirudh Mannattil
Edited by Emil Koch
It is a shocking statement, but unfortunately a true one: Hunger is the cause of death for roughly 45% of children around the world. Although there have been several initiatives undertaken by various governments to tackle this increasingly worsening problem, a range of factors affect the progress of these programs, rendering them mostly ineffective. It might be surprising to realize that crucial factors affecting food insecurity are rising rent and housing costs. Two issues that appear entirely unrelated or, at the very least, appear to have an insignificant amount of common ground are, in reality, well-intertwined and have a profound impact on each other more than what is realized at face value. Hence, it is necessary to dissect this relationship and further analyze the different aspects which emerge.
To begin, let us explore the idea that current programs in place, which target economic hurdles faced by families, are actually addressing the problems separately, while in fact, these issues are interlinked and, therefore, demand a treatment that resolves them as a whole. Food insecure families have, in common, exhibited behavior that points towards them facing other material hardships, such as disconnected utilities owing to missed bill payments. These forms of hardships are common in families suffering from housing instability. Considering research conducted in this field, the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2368 families were surveyed, and the researchers concluded that food-insecure families were generally more susceptible to facing housing instability and vice versa. This research shows the ineffectiveness of enforcing two separate groups of policies to tackle the issues individually. Furthermore, the study also unearthed evidence showing that families from ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups were more likely to feel the impact of both challenges. Indeed, this study explicitly shows that policies may, unfortunately, discriminate against certain underprivileged groups, and a revisiting of the current practices by governing officials is necessary to achieve further progress in combating these issues.
Additionally, the extent to which inflation plays a vital role in exacerbating the issue of rising rental or housing costs, which in turn creates a profound impact on food insecurity, must also be well understood. Rents have increased 13% in the past year, with inflation having surged to a four-decade high. Moreover, the prices of food items have also increased, such as groceries (a rise of 20% in the past year). These increasing costs, coupled with the stoppage of several financial grants and benefits meant to rescue households and individuals from the financial pit the pandemic left many worldwide in, mean that families have insufficient resources to sustain themselves in the midst of all of their challenges.
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References:
[1] Sanchez, J.(10/12/2020). Research Shows Bidirectional Relationship Between Housing Instability And Food Insecurity. www.uth.edu. https://www.uth.edu/news/story.htm?id=a0d3bb4f-f0d8-4d89-a8be-b0ad35da03fd; (Accessed on 07/31/2023)
[2] Picchi, A. (2023, March 21). Hunger rising amid inflation: Study finds nearly 25% of Americans are food insecure. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-in-four-americans-food-insecure/; (Accessed on 07/31/2023)
[3] Horsley, S. (2021, August 11). Wages Are Increasing, But So Are The Costs Of Essentials Like Rent, Food And Gas. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/08/11/1026831116/wages-are-increasing-but-so-are-the-costs-of-essentials-like-rent-food-and-gas; (Accessed on 07/31/2023)
[4] Drewnowski, A. Food insecurity has economic root causes. Nat Food 3, 555–556 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00577-w;
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