| If Connecticut is the richest state in the nation, why are people hungry? Connecticut is one of ten states in the nation where income inequality between the rich and the poor (between the poorest 20% of the people and the richest 20% of the people) has grown most during the past thirty years. The gap is significant. The state ranks fifth in the nation in the change in the ratio of incomes between rich and poor. It ranks highest among all states in the rate at which the poorest 20% of the population is losing real income. |  |
Definitions of Food Security
Food security
– families who say they always have enough food to eat and the kinds of food they wantFood insecurity – families who say they do not always have access to enough food for an active healthy life
Hunger – families who say that at some time during the previous year one or more members of the family were hungry from lack of food.
The Face of Food Insecurity —
Poverty and Hunger in Connecticut9.5% of Connecticut’s population is living in poverty
(311,036 in 1998)
24% of school age children are living in poverty
(159,000 in 1998)
8.8% of households are food insecure
(108,944 in 1998)
3.8% of households are food insecure
and hungry
(47,044 in 1998)
How much of our income goes to food?
Family income
Less than $5,000*: 132.8%
*Households may have non-monetary income; includes those with negative incomes due to business losses.
Sources:
USDA: Prevalence of Food Insecurity and Hunger by State, 1996-1998
Economic Policy Institute/Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ Analysis of
Data from the US Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey
Economic Research Service: US Dept. of Agriculture
CT Voices for Children, 1999
Economic Research Service/USDA.