Description/Abstract
For low-income older adults, it may be difficult to meet basic needs on a fixed monthly income. Stretching resources can be difficult, especially if unexpected expenses arise, leading many older adults to face difficult budget tradeoffs. Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes how budget tradeoffs between food and other essential expenses—housing, utilities, medical care, transportation, and personal and cleaning supplies—shape food insecurity among older adults.
Document Type
Research Brief
Keywords
Older adults, food insecurity, budget tradeoffs
Disciplines
Food Studies | Gerontology | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration
Date
9-16-2025
Language
English
Acknowledgements
This work was supported in part by Grant #1908-17412 to Madonna Harrington Meyer and Grant #1905-15081 to Colleen Heflin from the Russell Sage Foundation. Any opinions expressed are those of the principal investigator(s) alone and should not be construed as representing the opinions of the Foundation. Our thanks to Claire Pendergrast, Sarah Reilly, Winston Scott, Rebecca Wang, Shanel Khaliq, Anna Delapaz, Frank Sarfo, Gabriella Alphonso, Camille Bagin, Clay Fannin, Siobhan O’Keefe, Hyojeong Kim, Julia Stafford, Xiaohan Sun, Lauryn Quick, Yuwei Zhang, and Dongmei Zuo with data and research assistance. Our thanks to Suzanne Nichols, our editors at the Russell Sage Foundation, Shannon Monnat, and Alyssa Kirk for editorial assistance.
Recommended Citation
Harrington Meyer, Madonna and Heflin, Colleen M. (2025). Budget Tradeoffs Shape Food Insecurity Among U.S. Older Adults. Lerner Center Population Health Research Brief Series. Research Brief #132. Accessed at: https://doi.org/10.14305/rt.lerner.2025.15.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Food Studies Commons, Gerontology Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons
