Household Structure, Loneliness, and Food Insufficiency Among Working-Age Adults With Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated food insecurity and insufficiency in the United States. However, the causes of food insufficiency among people with disabilities during the pandemic are not well understood. This paper examined how loneliness and household structure are associated with food insufficiency among working-age adults (ages 18–64) with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using 2021 National Survey on Health and Disability data, we conducted logistic regression to estimate the association between loneliness, household composition, and food insufficiency. Measures of household structure, such as the number of children in the household and living with other adults, were not associated with food insufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary analyses found that loneliness had a strong association with food insufficiency for those who live alone. Respondents who lived alone and reported feeling lonely had the highest odds of being food insufficient during the pandemic. Our findings indicate that in addition to household structure, it is important to assess psychosocial well-being, such as measures of loneliness, when examining food insufficiency among working-age adults with disabilities.

Citation

Sullivan, D.L., Kurth, N.K., Hall, J.P. and Goddard, K.S. (2024), "Household Structure, Loneliness, and Food Insufficiency Among Working-Age Adults With Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic", Ciciurkaite, G. and Brown, R.L. (Ed.) Disability and the Changing Contexts of Family and Personal Relationships (Research in Social Science and Disability, Vol. 15), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-354720240000015005