Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Award Date

2021

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department / School

Economics

First Advisor

Evert Van der Sluis

Abstract

Food insecurity in household with children in the US is about 13.6 percent. Food insecurity among households with children headed by a single woman is 28.7 percent and among households with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty threshold (the Federal poverty line was $25,926 for a family of four in 2019) is 27.6 percent (USDA, 2019). This research is about the effect of affordable housing on food security in the United States. The data include observations on 50 states and Washington, D.C., from 2004 to 2017 resulting in a total sample of 714 observations. The research used the 50th percentile FMR and housing vouchers as proxies for affordable housing. In researching the main objective, the research examined on how the presence of SNAP affects the relationship between food insecurity and housing affordability, the research also investigated on how the presence of WIC affects the relationship between food insecurity and housing affordability. To run the analysis, the study used the fixed effect model followed by the IV regression in efforts to overcome endogeneity. We found that an increase in the 50th percentile FMR causes food insecurity to increase, while an increase in housing vouchers increases food insecurity. The results of the fixed effect model show that there is positive relationship between WIC and food insecurity, while the effect of SNAP on food insecurity is absent. The results show that an increase in the median fair market rents causes food insecurity to increase, so a reduction in rent prices targeted to poor households would help low-income families improve their food security. That is, gaining access to affordable housing helps poor families become more food secure.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Food security -- United States.
Housing subsidies -- United States.
Low-income consumers -- United States.
Low-income housing -- United States.

Format

application/pdf

Number of Pages

62

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Download

Included in

Economics Commons

Share

COinS
 

Rights Statement

In Copyright