Homelessness and food insecurity

Numerous assistance programs are designed to alleviate homelessness and food insecurity in the US, two of the more severe possible consequences of poverty. While we expect families with a higher probability of homelessness to also be at higher risk of food insecurity, after controlling for observed factors the relationship is not immediately apparent. To analyze this relationship, we use a unique data set with food insecurity information on both housed and homeless families. After instrumenting for the probability of homelessness, we find that families more prone to homelessness have higher levels of food insecurity. When we use dichotomous measures of food insecurity, however, the effects of homelessness are smaller. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.