Food insecurity in the U.S.: measurement and evaluation

Most food insecurity research within the United States has focused on the headcount ratio of food insecurity, whic is,the percentage of households that are considered food insecure. Although this measure is important, using this measurealone, ignores the variation within the food hardship being experienced by U.S. households. In 2008, Dr. CraigGundersen translated the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke income poverty index to measure the extent, depth, and severity offood insecurity. Within chapter 1 of this paper, I use the income poverty index literature to define axioms that anappropriate food insecurity index would need to satisfy in order to accurately measure the depth of food insecurity. Itranslate income poverty indices from Kakwani, Chakravarty, and Watts and then evaluate how these indices as wellas the one proposed by Dr. Gundersen measure food insecurity within the U.S.. Within chapter 2, I use the foodinsecurity index proposed by Dr. Gundersen to evaluate how Broad Based Categorical Eligibility, a change in SNAPeligibility policy affected U.S. food insecurity between 2001 and 2013.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Agricultural & Applied Econ

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Hamann, Angela N

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gundersen, Craig
• Ellison, Brenna
• Michelson, Hope

• Food Insecurity

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Angela Hamann

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95362

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F95362