Black communities face many unique challenges that result in being more likely to face hunger during the pandemic
- Discriminatory policies and practices have led Black people to be more likely to live in poverty, more likely to face unemployment, and have fewer financial resources like savings or property than their white counterparts. All of these factors increase someone's likelihood to experience hunger.
- Due to the pandemic, food insecurity in the Black community increased. An estimated 24% of the Black community experienced food insecurity in 2020. Black children are almost three times more likely to live in a food-insecure household than white children.
- Black people, especially Black women, are more likely to be essential frontline workers and more likely to work in the industries hardest hit by the pandemic.
- The median income for Black households is roughly $46,000 per year while non-Hispanic, white households earned a median income of roughly $71,000 per year.
- While the United States has an overall poverty rate of 11.4%, within the Black community, the poverty rate is 19.5%. Meanwhile, poverty in the non-Hispanic, white community is 10.1%.
To address food insecurity in Black communities, Feeding America is working with national organizations such as the National Urban League and the NAACP to meet the need in local communities and address the root causes of these persistent inequalities.
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