In 2022, 9.1 percent of U.S. households with adults aged 65 and older were food insecure at some time during the year. The prevalence of food insecurity in households with adults aged 65 and older in 2022 was statistically significantly higher than the 7.1 percent in 2021 and the 6.9 percent in 2020.
USDA’s Economic Research Service monitors the food security status of households in the United States through an annual nationwide survey. In 2022, 11.4 percent of households with an adult aged 65 and older living alone were food insecure, statistically significantly higher than the prevalence in 2021 of 9.5 percent and in 2020 of 8.3 percent. Very low food security is a more severe form of food insecurity in which the food intake of some household members was reduced.
The 2022 prevalence of very low food security in households with adults aged 65 and older was 3.4 percent, compared to 2.8 percent in 2021. The data was released this month in USDA’s Household Food Security in the United States in 2022.
