Food insecurity in New York outpaced United States average: report

The rate of food insecurity among adults in New York was slightly higher than the national rate from June to December 2020, according to a new report. 

Those rates also remained consistently greater than those of nearby states, the analysis from the New York State Health Foundation found. By December of last year, about 14% of adults in New York lived in households that sometimes or often lacked enough food. Hunger was particularly pronounced among children: 19% of adults living with children said the children were not eating enough in the past week because the adults couldn’t afford it. 

Racial disparities are also apparent in the data, illustrating that Black and Hispanic New Yorkers faced the greatest risk in the hunger crisis. About one in three Hispanic respondents reported not having sufficient food, while more than one in five Black New Yorkers said the same. Nearly 60% of children lacking sufficient food are Hispanic or Black. 

Hunger has also increasingly affected people who had otherwise had enough food before the COVID-19 pandemic. More than one-third of respondents in December reported that they were newly food insecure.