Bisexuals are vastly more likely to be on food stamps than their gay and straight counterparts and same-sex couples are more likely to need food assistance than different-sex couples, according to a new report.
With record numbers of people on food stamps in recent years, a new report from the Williams Institute, a UCLA School of Law think tank, has broken down the likelihood of food stamp use and food insecurity — defined as “uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods” or “uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways” — based on sexual orientation.
The study used data from the National Survey of Family Growth, the American Community Survey, and Gallup to conclude that LGBT people and those in same-sex couples are more likely to be food insecure and use food stamps than their heterosexual counterparts.
“An estimated 29% of LGBT individuals indicated that there was a time in the last year when they did not have enough money to feed themselves or their family, compared to 18% of non-LGBT individuals,” the report, authored by Williams Institute demographics expert Gary Gates reads. “This implies that more than 2.4 million LGBT adults in the US have experienced at least some aspect of food insecurity. Participation in SNAP is also higher among LGB individuals aged 18-44 when compared to heterosexuals in the same age group, 21% versus 15%, respectively.”
By breaking the B out of LGB, the study goes on to show that the rate of LGB SNAP participation is “largely driven by the high SNAP participation rates among bisexuals.” Thus in the years examined, 2006-2010, 25 percent of bisexuals reported participating in SNAP in the last year compared to 15 percent of heterosexuals and 14 percent of lesbians and gays.
When it came to couples, those in same-sex relationships were also more likely to participate in SNAP than traditional couples with 13 percent of same-sex couples reporting using food stamps in 2012 compared to 9 percent of different sex couples.
Further, same-sex couples with children were nearly twice as likely to be on SNAP than different-sex couples with children, 26 percent to 14 percent respectively. And 11 percent of same-sex couples without children reported being on food stamps compared to 6 percent of different sex couples.
Additional key findings in the study include:
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Rates of food insecurity are higher for LGBT adults when compared to non-LGBT adults across several national surveys, and across gender, age, racial/ethnic, and education level groups. After taking these factors into account:
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LGBT adults are 1.7 times more likely than non-LGBT adults to not have had enough money to feed themselves or their family in the past year.
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LGB adults aged 18-44 are 1.3 times more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to receive food stamps.
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Same-sex couples are 1.7 times more likely than different-sex couples to receive food stamps.
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LGB adults aged 18-44 raising children are 1.8 times more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to receive food stamps.
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Same-sex couples raising children under age 18 are 2.1 times more likely than comparable different-sex couples to receive food stamps.
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More than a third (34%) of LGBT-identified women did not have money for food in the last year compared to 20% of non-LGBT women and 24% of LGBT men.
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An estimated 17% of female same-sex couples received food stamps compared with 10% of male same-sex couples and 9% of different sex couples.
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While nearly 1 in 4 White LGBT adults (23%) experienced food insecurity at some point last year, the figure was more than 1 in 3 for African-American LGBT adults (37%), more than 1 in 2 for LGBT Native Americans (55%), and more than 3 in 4 for Native Hawaiians (78%).