Household Food Insecurity in Canada in 2012

Acknowledgement: This research was funded by operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This presentation draws on the work of Lynn McIntyre, Herb Emery, Naomi Dachner, Andy Mitchell, Rachel Loopstra, Urshila Sriram, Jenny Godley, and Genevieve Jessiman-Perreault.

Valerie Tarasuk and Catherine MahUniversity of Toronto

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Food insecurity: uncertain and insufficient access to food arising from resource constraint

Potential Manifestations:

Reduced food intake

Hunger Adverse socioemotional effects

Stress, worry & anxiety

Social exclusion

Potential Health Outcomes:

Poor nutritional status

Compromised mental health

Chronic health conditions

Obesity

Reduced quality of food intake

Poor child development and learning

Severity and Duration

FINANCIAL INSECURITY and INSUFFICIENCY

Household Food Security Survey Module(administered on the Canadian Community Health Survey since 2004)

• Worry about not having enough food• Reliance on low-cost foods• Not being able to afford balanced meals• Adults/children skip meals• Adults/children cut size of meals• Adults/children not having enough to eat• Adults/children not eating for whole day

“because there wasn’t

enough money to buy

food?”

18 questions, differentiating adults’ and children’s experiences over last 12 months:

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Household Food Insecurity in Canada in 2012

Data Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012.

2007 2008 2011 20120

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Marginal food insecurity

Moderate food insecurity

Severe food insecurityNum

ber o

f hou

seho

lds

(000

s)

Worry about running out of food and/or limit food selection because of lack of money for food.

Compromise in quality and/or quantity of food due to a lack of money for food.

Miss meals, reduce food intake and at the most extreme go day(s) without food.

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Household Food Insecurity in Canada in 2012

• 12.6% of households reported some food insecurity.• 4 million Canadians lived in food-insecure

households in 2012.• 1 in 6 children under the age of 18 (i.e., 1.15 million

children) lived in food-insecure households.

Relationship to food bank statistics?882,188 individuals received assistance from food banks in March 2012 (Food Banks Canada, HungerCount 2012).

6Data Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS), 2012.

Nunavut

Northwest Territories

Yukon

British Columbia

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland and Labrador

Canada

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Household food insecurity,by province and Territory, 2012

Severe

Moderate

Marginal

12.6%

16.2%

13.4%

45.2%

13.5%

11.7%

12.1%

12.5%

11.5%

17.1%

12.7%

20.4%

17.5%

15.6%

7Data Source: Weighted estimates from CCHS 2011-12

St John's

*Hali

fax

Moncton

Saint Jo

hn

Sagu

enay

Quebec

City

Sherb

rooke

Trois-

Riviere

s

*Montre

al

Ottawa-G

atinea

u

*Pete

rboro

ugh

Oshaw

a

Toro

nto

*Ham

ilton

St. Cath

arines-

Niagara

Kitchen

er

Brantford

*Guelp

h

London

Barrie

Greater

Sudbury

Thunder

Bay

Winnipeg

Saska

toon

*Calg

ary

Edmonton

*Abbotsf

ord

Vanco

uver

Victoria

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

20%

Prevalence of household food insecurity in major census metropolitan areas, 2011-2012

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$1-$10,000

$10,001-$20,000

$20,001-$30,000

$30,001-$40,000

$40,001-$50,000

$50,001-$60,000

$60,001-$70,000

$70,001-$80,000

$80,001-$90,000

$90,001-$100,000

$100,001+

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

40.0

45.0

50.0

46.2

14.8

6.4

3.32.0

0.9

Household income, adjusted for household size

Perc

ent

Inse

cure

(%)

Prevalence of household food insecurity by income, 2011

In addition to income, other factors associated with heightened vulnerability to food insecurity include:

• Not owning one’s home• Being aboriginal or black • Being a recent immigrant• Living in urban Canada• Being in a lone-parent, female-led household• Relying on social assistance

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Food insecurity, by provinceHouseholds with social assistance as major source of income

Canada 2011-12

Newfoundland and La

brador

Nova Scotia

New Brunsw

ick

Quebec

Ontario

Manito

ba

Saskatch

ewan

Alberta

British

Columbia

Yukon

Nunavut0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Prevalence of food insecurity among households whose main source of income was social assistance, by province/territory

46.2%

78.7%

Data Source: CCHS 2011-12 Note: PEI and Northwest Territories have been omitted because of the small size of the samples there.

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Why are social assistance recipients so vulnerable?

• Incomes fall below basic living costs in most jurisdictions.

• Most provinces do not index benefits to inflation.

• Limits on allowable assets mean recipients have typically have no savings and therefore no capacity to buffer sudden increases in expenses or interruptions in income.

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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

Food insecurity in Newfoundland & Labrador

Drop in food insecurity between 2007 and 2011 reflects decreased vulnerability of social assistance recipients with province’s Poverty Reduction Strategy launched in 2006.

Among the changes: Social assistance benefits were increased and indexed benefits to inflation. Asset limits and earnings exemptions were raised.

15.7%

10.6%

(R Loopstra, unpublished analysis.)

13Data Source: CCHS 2011-12

Nunavut

Northwest Territories

Yukon

British Columbia

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland and Labrador

Canada

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

Wages and salaries or self-employment as main source of income

Other income or none

% food insecure

Most food insecure households are reliant on employment incomes.

Why are so many households reliant on employment incomes food insecure?

• low-waged jobs• short-term, part-time employment• single (vs dual) earner households• inadequacy of income transfers provided to

supplement low employment incomes

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The low rate of food insecurity among Canadian seniors reflects the effect of policy interventions targeting income.

• In 2012, 7% of households reliant on seniors’ incomes were food insecure.– versus 11% among those reliant on employment and 70% among

those on social assistance.

• Seniors have guaranteed annual incomes, indexed to inflation, and drug coverage, transit subsidies, ‘seniors days’ discounts.

• Turning 65 drops the risk of food insecurity in half for low-income adults. (Emery, Fleisch and McIntyre. How a Guaranteed Annual Income Could Put Food Banks out of Business, University of Calgary SPP Research Papers, Dec 2013)

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Food insecurity: uncertain and insufficient access to food arising from resource constraint

Potential Manifestations:

Reduced food intake

Hunger Adverse socioemotional effects

Stress, worry & anxiety

Social exclusion

Potential Health Outcomes:

Poor nutritional status

Compromised mental health

Chronic health conditions

Obesity

Reduced quality of food intake

Poor child development and learning

Severity and Duration

FINANCIAL INSECURITY and INSUFFICIENCY

Reducing food insecurity means intervening upstream, to tackle the severe financial constraints that give rise to this problem.

93 policy actor roster members

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70 roster members completed

the survey, naming 117 unique nominees, of which 35 were roster members

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‘Ego-centred’ network of 160

individuals, of which 11 were most frequently nominated =

policy ‘entrepreneurs’

Social network analysis

Survey

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Consultation with research team,

network, and partners to assemble roster

Nominate 3 ‘policy entrepreneurs’

Three sets of qualities• Voice or claim to be heard• Connections or able to forge

strategic relationships• Tenacity – persistence

Explain reasons for nominationsIdentify areas of policy influenceState relationship with nominee

Food insecurity policy actors: social network analysisPart of policy framing analysis, team led by McIntyre and Mah; purpose: to examine the makeup of the policy community for this issue

160 individuals in the network 11

entrepreneurs

93 rostermembers

Figure 1: Food insecurity policy network representation (n=160)

Large circles = policy entrepreneurs

Circles = respondents (roster members)

Main ‘network’ componentFindings: • Most common policy role across network:

academic (26.5%) and NGO (26.5%)• Few decision makers in government

Triangles = nonrespondent nominees

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Figure 2: Food insecurity policy network representation(colour-coded by region, n=160)

BC – GreenAB – RedSK – GreyMB – YellowON – BlueQC – BrownNS – PinkNL – OrangeNU – PurpleNWT – Teal

Findings: • Horizontal network• Predominance of Ontario, followed by BC• Regionally focused – nominations in own region

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Figure 4: Food insecurity policy network representation(colour-coded by approach, n=160)

Food-based – RedMixed – GreyIncome-based – Blue

Analysis of network homophily (post-hoc)

Findings: • Like-minded individuals connect• ‘Mixed’ as bridge?• 11 entrepreneur nominations: approach not as

important as perception of formal role, action, voice

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Food insecurity policy actors: social network analysis

Questions for discussion• What questions does this network analysis raise for you

within the context of your own work?

• How do these findings relate to your views on the key ingredients for policy change? How about policy change within jurisdiction of different orders of government (municipal-regional, provincial, federal)?

• What is the role of ‘mixed’ approach actors?

• Given the relative absence of governmental actors (consider legislative and executive), what are the implications for your own work?

Next step: interviews with entrepreneurs

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Food insecurity: uncertain and insufficient access to food arising from resource constraint

Potential Manifestations:

Reduced food intake

Hunger Adverse socioemotional effects

Stress, worry & anxiety

Social exclusion

Potential Health Outcomes:

Poor nutritional status

Compromised mental health

Chronic health conditions

Obesity

Reduced quality of food intake

Poor child development and learning

Severity and Duration

FINANCIAL INSECURITY and INSUFFICIENCY

Reducing food insecurity means intervening upstream, to tackle the severe financial constraints that give rise to this problem.

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