Resource Booms, State Economic Conditions, and Child Food Security
AAEA member releases new research in AEPP
Food insecurity is strongly linked with household income and parental education. In the new article “Resource Booms, State Economic Conditions, and Child Food Security” published in Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, researchers found 26 percent of children with household income below the poverty threshold were food insecure. Among children with non-college educated parents, 17 percent were food insecure.
Dr. Cho from Korea Institute for International Economic Policy along with Dr. Kreider and Dr. Winters from Iowa State University wondered if better economic conditions would improve child food security.
Winters says, “We find that increased oil and gas labor income in a state improves child food security, especially for children with less educated parents. Improved state economic conditions lift children out of poverty and increases household incomes for children above but near the poverty threshold. This make them more food secure. Notably, these benefits do not just flow to children with parents employed in the oil and gas industry. Oil and gas booms have spillover effects that increase employment and incomes in other industries and increase food security for children.
The main takeaway is that a stronger state economy boosts household income and lifts some children out of low food security. Similarly, a weaker economy worsens food security. Of course, even a very strong economy does not completely eliminate child food insecurity. A strong labor market improves food security for some children but not all.”
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ABOUT AAEA: Established in 1910, the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) is the leading professional association for agricultural and applied economists, with 2,500 members in more than 60 countries. Members of the AAEA work in academic or government institutions as well as in industry and not-for-profit organizations, and engage in a variety of research, teaching, and outreach activities in the areas of agriculture, the environment, food, health, and international development. The AAEA publishes three journals, the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (an open access journal), the American Journal of Agricultural Economics and Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy, as well as the online magazine Choices and the online open access publication series Applied Economics Teaching Resources. To learn more, visit www.aaea.org.
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