“Families are borrowing from already-limited food budgets to keep a roof over their heads” Quoted from Children’s HealthWatch, Hunger and Affordable Housing
- “Severely cost-burdened renters are 23 percent more likely than those with less severe burdens to face difficulty purchasing food (Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, 2017). Conversely, NewYork City families with affordable rent payments were found to increase their discretionary income by 77 percent, freeing up funds to spend on health insurance, food, and education or to save for a future down payment on a home (Enterprise Community Partners, 2010).” Quoted from Health Affairs, Housing And Health: An Overview Of The Literature
- “In 1996, Congress capped the amount of housing costs that a family can deduct from gross income in figuring out what share of food costs the family can pay without Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) help. The reduced deduction means the SNAP allotment shrinks by assuming the family can use some of its income for food when in fact that money is owed to the landlord. As housing costs have risen in the two decades since Congress made this cut, this cap on the shelter deduction has meant SNAP allotment inadequacy has become a far deeper and broader problem.” Quoted from FRAC, A Plan of Action to End Hunger in America
- “Children’s HealthWatch analyzed data collected at their Boston research site between 1998 and 2008 and found that when children living in subsidized housing are compared to those whose families on the wait list, those in subsidized housing are: more likely be food secure; less likely to be seriously underweight; and more likely to be classified as ‘well’ on a composite indicator of child health.” Quoted from Children’s HealthWatch, Hunger and Affordable Housing
Children living in subsidized housing were 52 percent less likely to be seriously underweight than children on the housing wait list. Quoted from Children’s HealthWatch, Hunger and Affordable Housing
- “Food-insecure and low-income people can be especially vulnerable to poor nutrition and obesity, due to additional risk factors associated with inadequate household resources as well as under-resourced communities. This might include lack of access to healthy and affordable foods; cycles of food deprivation and overeating; high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression; fewer opportunities for physical activity; greater exposure to marketing of obesity-promoting products; and limited access to health care (Hartline-Grafton, 2015).” Quoted from FRAC, Hunger and Health
- The combination of housing subsidies with nutrition benefits improves housing security. Housing subsidies are critically important for ensuring low income families are “housing secure” (as defined by experiencing overcrowding or frequent moves in the previous year). Low income families receiving housing subsidies in combination with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) benefits were 72% more likely to be housing secure than those receiving housing subsidies alone (Sandel et. al., 2014).
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Food Insecurity And Housing Instability In Vulnerable Families