Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Helen

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 23

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: Hispanic

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Immigrant, Frequent moves, Intergenerational poverty, Food insecurity, Domestic violence

ACE Factors: Domestic violence

Born in Florida to an immigrant Hispanic family, Helen participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a junior at St. Catherine University. From birth she experienced housing insecurity and throughout her life her family moved frequently, often doubling up with friends and relatives. In her interview she discusses intergenerational poverty, food insecurity, and domestic violence.

Stacy

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 19

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: White/Asian

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Frequent moves, Food insecurity

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce

Born in rural Minnesota, Stacy is a White/Asian woman who participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a first year student at St. Catherine University.. She experienced housing insecurity beginning at the age of 6 and throughout her childhood. In her interview she discusses frequent moves, couch-surfing, getting kicked out of her home, and being passed around from relative to relative, as well as food insecurity and poverty.

Jazz

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 32

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: African American

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Frequent moves, Food insecurity, Intergenerational poverty, Single parent

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce

Born in Illinois, Jazz is an African American, LGBTQ-identified, single mother who participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a senior at St. Catherine University. At the time of her interview, she lived in public housing and was experiencing housing insecurity. In May 2013 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from St. Catherine University, and before that she obtained an LPN degree from a non-accredited trade school. Beginning …

Identifying The Effect Of Wic On Very Low Food Security Among Infants And Children, Brent Kreider, John V. Pepper, Manan Roy

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

The Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) is considered a crucial component of the social safety net in the United States, yet there is limited supporting evidence on the effects of WIC on the nutritional well-being and food security of infants and young children. Two key identification problems have been especially difficult to address. First, the decision to take up WIC is endogenous as households are not randomly assigned to the program; recipients are likely to differ from nonrecipients in unobserved ways (e.g., prior health) that are related to associated outcomes. Second, survey respondents often fail to report receiving public …

Shaleen

Oral Histories

Age when Interviewed: 31

Date of Interview: Fall 2012

Race: White

Gender: Female

Keywords: Housing insecurity, Food insecurity

ACE Factors: Parental separation or divorce

Shaleen is a White woman who moved to the Twin Cities as a young child and she participated in the Voices of Homelessness project as a junior at St. Catherine University.. Prior to transferring to St. Kate’s, she earned a G.E.D. and took community college courses. Before this, starting at age 13 and throughout her adolescence, she experienced homelessness and in her interview she discusses couch-surfing and sleeping under bridges, as well as eviction from various …

Seeds For Change: Examining The Association Between Race, Food Security, And Urban Agriculture, Komal Razvi

Honors College Theses

Access to healthy, nutritious food is one of the most basic human needs. Unfortunately, a large portion of the global population, including that of the United States, has limited access to such food, hence putting families in a state of food insecurity. Food insecurity occurs when households are unable to (or struggle to) provide adequate food to all household members due to lack of funds or food resources. This phenomenon is considered to be a major concern in many urban settings such as Detroit, as it is a characteristic of societal distress. Interestingly, research has shown that while food insecurity …

Families With Hungry Children And The Transition From Preschool To Kindergarten, Colleen Heflin, Irma Arteaga, Sara Gable

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

This paper exploits a source of variation in the eligibility for federal nutrition programs to identify the program effects on food insecurity. Children are eligible for the WIC program until the day before they turn 61 months old. The result is an age discontinuity in program participation at the 61-month cutoff. Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth-cohort dataset, we find strong evidence of a sizeable increase in household food insecurity at the 61- month cutoff. Our findings are robust to different model specifications, datasets, and various bandwidth choices using various non-parametric estimations.