Disability status can affect food security among US households

In 2021, households that included an adult with disabilities reported higher food insecurity rates than households with no adults with disabilities.

USDA’s Economic Research Service reports that in 2021, for U.S. households that included an adult out of the labor force because of a disability, 28 percent were food insecure. Among U.S. households with an adult age 18-64 who reported a disability but was not out of the labor force because of it, 24 percent were food insecure. In contrast, seven percent of households with adults without disabilities were food insecure in 2021. Households that include at least one adult 65 and over who reported a disability had food insecurity prevalence rates similar to households with adults without disabilities, at nine percent. In 2021, the prevalence rate of very low food security for households that included adults not in the labor force because of a disability was more than five times that of households that included adults without disabilities.