Food Insecurity Decreased for U.S. Households With Children in 2021, but Increased for Households Without Children

In 2021, 10.2 percent of U.S. households were food insecure, meaning they had difficulty providing enough food for all their members at times because of a lack of resources. Although the prevalence of food insecurity for all households was unchanged from 2020, some subgroups experienced statistically significant changes. For households with children, food insecurity declined in 2021 to 12.5 percent from 14.8 percent in 2020. Some subgroups of households with children showed declines as well, including households with children younger than 6 years old, married households with children, and households with children headed by a single female. Even so, the prevalence of food insecurity for households with children remained higher than for those with no children. For households with no children, food insecurity increased to 9.4 percent, up from 8.8 percent in 2020.