The present study examined the association between unemployment and household food insecurity during the 2007–2009 economic recession in the USA.

Longitudinal survey of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP; 2008–2011). Food insecurity was measured by five questions excerpted from an eighteen-item Food Security Scale. Unemployment was measured by a dichotomous indicator, the number of job losses and the total duration of all episodes in the observation period.

As nationally representative data, the SIPP interviewed respondents in multiple waves with a time interval of four months.

The study created two analytic samples including working-age household heads employed at the beginning of the observation period. The size of the two samples was 14 417 and 13 080.

Unemployment was positively associated with food insecurity (OR=1·55; 95 % CI 1·32, 1·83; P<0·001). Similar results were obtained when the analysis controlled for food insecurity status measured before unemployment (OR=1·54; 95 % CI 1·27, 1·88; P<0·001). For households with the same duration of unemployment, one more episode of unemployment increased the odds of food insecurity by 8 % (OR=1·08; 95 % CI 1·00, 1·18; P<0·001).

More in-depth understanding of the relationship between unemployment and food insecurity is useful to better identify and serve the at-risk population. Connecting unemployment assistance closely to nutrition assistance could lower the prevalence of food insecurity among unemployed households. Public policy should better account for both episodes and duration of unemployment to reduce food insecurity.