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II. BACKGROUND
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) deines food insecurity as having limited access to adequate food due to
lack of money and other resources.3 In 2014, 14% of U.S. households, or 17.4 million households, were food insecure
at some time during that year, down from a recent high of 14.9% in 2011. Nearly 6% of households reported very low
food security in 2014, meaning that these households experienced multiple disruptions to normal eating patterns and
reduced food intake.4

In 2014, rates of food insecurity were higher than the national average in households with incomes below 185%
of the oicial poverty line (33.7%); households with children (19.2%) and especially children under age 6 (19.9%);
households with children headed by single women (35.3%); and households headed by Black, non-Hispanics (26.1%)
and Hispanics (22.4%). Geographically, food insecurity is most common in nonmetropolitan areas and in the U.S.
South.5

The USDA monitors the extent and severity of food insecurity in U.S. households through the Current Population Survey
Food Security Supplement. This survey is sponsored by the USDA’s Economic Research Service and conducted by
the U.S. Census Bureau as a once-a-year supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS).6 The CPS and the Food
Security Supplement provide critical information regarding disparities across social statuses such as race, ethnicity,
gender, and age. However, neither the Food Security Supplement nor the parent CPS measures respondents’ sexual
orientation or their gender identity in a way that captures transgender status or identity. Consequently, researchers
cannot analyze these data to examine food insecurity among LGBT-headed households.

In addition to the CPS Food Security Supplement, the USDA has utilized several other surveys to measure and
assess food insecurity and poverty among households and individuals.7 None of these surveys directly measures
respondents’ transgender identity or status. As explained in the methods section below, one of these surveys – the
National Health Interview Survey – recently added a direct measure of respondents’ sexual orientation and contains
a module addressing food insecurity, allowing for some assessment of food insecurity by sexual orientation.

In addition to monitoring food insecurity in the U.S. population, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service administers
ifteen domestic food and nutrition assistance programs. The largest is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), which was known as the Food Stamps Program until 2008. The program provides monthly beneits
for eligible individuals and households to purchase food. To be eligible for SNAP beneits, households must meet
several tests related to household resources, incomes, and other circumstances. Under the gross income test, for
example, generally a household may qualify for SNAP only if its gross monthly income does not exceed 130% of the
oicial poverty level for that household’s size.8

In an average month of iscal year (FY) 2014, SNAP provided beneits to about 15% of individuals in the United States,
or 46.5 million people. The average monthly beneit was about $125 per person.9 In FY 2013, the gross monthly

3
See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Deinitions of Food Security, http://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/
food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/deinitions-of-food-security.aspx.
4
Coleman-Jensen et al., Household Food Security in the United States in 2014, at 8 & Tab. 1A (2015), http://www.ers.usda.gov/
media/1896841/err194.pdf.
5
Id. at 13-15.
6
Id. at 2.
7
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Food Security in the U.S., Overview of Surveys, http://www.ers.
usda.gov/data-products/food-security-in-the-united-states/documentation.aspx.
8
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Eligibility, http://
www.fns.usda.gov/snap/eligibility.
9
Coleman-Jensen et al., Household Food Security in the United States in 2014, at 29 (2015), http://www.ers.usda.gov/
media/1896841/err194.pdf.

FOOD INSECURITY AND SNAP PARTICIPATION IN THE LGBT COMMUNITY 4

income of 83% of SNAP households was less than or equal to 100% of the applicable federal poverty level.10 Among
SNAP participants in FY 2013, more than half (56%) were female; more than four in ten (44%) were children; nearly
half (46%) were nonelderly adults age 18-59; and 9% were age 60 or older. Nearly all SNAP beneiciaries were U.S.
citizens (96%), 3% were non-citizens, and less than 1% were refugees. Nearly four in ten SNAP beneiciaries were
White (38%), 26% were African American, 16% were Hispanic, 2.4% were Asian, Native Hawaiian or other Paciic
Islander, 1.4% were Native American, and 0.8% were multi-racial.11

Numerous federal surveys collect information about SNAP participation.12 As explained in the methods section below,
two of these surveys directly measure respondents’ sexual orientation, but none measures respondents’ gender
identity in a way that captures transgender identity or status.

Despite a lack of federal data on food insecurity and SNAP participation among LGBT individuals and households,
research has demonstrated elevated levels of food insecurity and poverty more generally in the LGBT community.
Utilizing data from 2012 and earlier, Gates (2014) found that rates of food insecurity and SNAP participation were
higher for LGBT adults and adults in same-sex couples when compared to non-LGBT adults or adults in diferent-sex
couples, respectively, after taking into account gender, age, race/ethnicity, and education levels.13 This prior report
also found that bisexuals, women, and racial/ethnic minorities were particularly vulnerable to food insecurity and
reported relatively higher rates of SNAP participation. The present reports’ indings – based on more recent data and
additional data sources – are by and large consistent with Gates (2014).

Looking at poverty more broadly, Badgett et al. (2013) and Abelda et al. (2009) documented higher rates of poverty
among LGB people compared to straight people; that gender, race, education, and geography inluence poverty
rates among LGB populations, and that the children of same-sex couples are particularly vulnerable.14 Kastanis and
Wilson (2014) found similar patterns of racial/ethnic disparities in income, employment, and college completion among
individuals in same-sex and diferent-sex couples.15 Grant et al. (2011) indicate high rates of poverty, unemployment,
and economic vulnerability of transgender individuals, especially among racial and ethnic minorities.16

10
Gray, Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Households: Fiscal Year 2013, at 13 (2014), http://www.fns.
usda.gov/sites/default/iles/ops/Characteristics2013.pdf.
11
Id. at Tab. A23. The race of 16% of SNAP beneiciaries was unknown. Id.
12
See Prell et al., Annual and Monthly SNAP Participation Rates, at 5 (2015), http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1890738/err192.pdf.
13
Gates, Food Insecurity and SNAP (Food Stamps) Participation in LGBT Communities (2014), http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/
wp-content/uploads/Food-Insecurity-in-LGBT-Communities.pdf.
14
Badgett et al., New Patterns of Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community (2013), http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/
wp-content/uploads/LGB-Poverty-Update-Jun-2013.pdf; Albelda et al., Poverty in the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Community (2009),
http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Albelda-Badgett-Schneebaum-Gates-LGB-Poverty-Report-March-2009.
pdf.
15
Kastanis & Wilson, Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Socioeconomic Wellbeing of Individuals in Same-sex Couples (2014), http://
williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Census-Compare-Feb-2014.pdf.
16
Grant et al., Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (2011), http://www.thetaskforce.
org/static_html/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf.

FOOD INSECURITY AND SNAP PARTICIPATION IN THE LGBT COMMUNITY 5