# #FoodSecurityFridays Week 5 — Reproducibility Files **"Food Insecurity in Households with Children"** This folder contains a Stata program to reproduce all statistics in the Week 5 #FoodSecurityFridays LinkedIn post and to generate a new analysis of parental shielding. --- ## Files Included | File | Description | |------|-------------| | `cpsdec2024.do` | Reads raw CPS-FSS ASCII data and creates Stata dataset | | `fsf_week5_reproducibility.do` | Reproduces all Week 5 post statistics + new analysis | | `fsf_week5_README.md` | This documentation file | --- ## Requirements - **Stata** (version 14 or later recommended) - **December 2024 CPS Food Security Supplement** microdata --- ## Data Access Download the December 2024 CPS Food Security Supplement from the U.S. Census Bureau: **URL:** [https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-supp_cps-repwgt/cps-food-security.html](https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/cps/cps-supp_cps-repwgt/cps-food-security.html) Download the file `dec24pub.dat` (the raw ASCII data file). --- ## Instructions ### Step 1: Prepare the Raw Data 1. Open `cpsdec2024.do` in Stata 2. Update the directory paths at the top of the file: ```stata * Specify the directory containing the raw data file local indir "YOUR_PATH_HERE" * Specify the directory where the Stata dataset will be saved local outdir "YOUR_PATH_HERE" ``` 3. Run the program to create `cpsdec2024.dta` ### Step 2: Reproduce Week 5 Statistics 1. Open `fsf_week5_reproducibility.do` in Stata 2. Update the directory paths: ```stata * Input directory containing raw CPS-FSS data local indir "YOUR_PATH_HERE" * Output directory for log file local outdir "YOUR_PATH_HERE" ``` 3. Run the program 4. Review the output log (`fsf_week5_reproducibility.log`) to verify statistics --- ## Statistics Reproduced The reproducibility program generates all figures cited in the LinkedIn post: ### Headline Statistics (Section 10) - **18.4%** of U.S. households with children were food insecure in 2024 - **6.7 million** food-insecure households with children ### Parental Shielding Breakdown (Section 11) | Category | Rate | Count | |----------|------|-------| | Household food insecure, adults only FI | ~9.3% of HHs w/ children | ~3.4 million | | Children also food insecure | 9.1% of HHs w/ children | 3.3 million | | Very low food security among children | 0.9% of HHs w/ children | 318,000 | ### Trend in Child Food Insecurity (Section 12) | Year | Rate | Source | |------|------|--------| | 2021 | 6.2% | ERR-309 | | 2022 | 8.8% | ERR-325 | | 2023 | 8.9% | ERR-337 | | 2024 | 9.1% | ERR-358 (reproduced) | | Change | +47% | 2021 to 2024 | ### New Analysis: The Cost of Parental Shielding (Section 13) Cross-tabulation of adult-referenced HFSSM item endorsement rates across three groups of food-insecure households: | Group | Definition | |-------|------------| | 1. Shielding intact | FI HHs with children where only adults are FI | | 2. Shielding broken | FI HHs with children where children are also FI | | 3. No children | FI HHs without children (comparison) | All 10 adult-referenced items (Items 1–10) are tabulated for each group. ### Supplementary: Child Item Endorsement (Section 14) Child-referenced items (Items 11–18) compared across food-insecure HHs where children are vs. are not food insecure — a validity check confirming the classification. ### Validation: Overall Item Endorsement vs. Statistical Supplement (Section 15) Computes overall endorsement rates (% affirming) for all 18 food security items among all households (Items 1–10) or households with children (Items 11–18), and compares them against published values in Table S-5 of the Statistical Supplement (AP-126). This validates that item response variables are coded correctly. Result: **18/18 items match** published values (17 exact, 1 within rounding). --- ## Key Definitions **Food insecurity:** Households classified as having low or very low food security based on responses to the 18-item U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module. **Parental shielding:** The pattern in which adults in food-insecure households with children absorb the hardship — cutting their own meals, going hungry — while maintaining near-normal eating patterns for their children. **Child food security status (hrfs12mc):** Census-provided classification based on 8 child-referenced items. Values: 1 = High/marginal food security among children; 2 = Low food security among children; 3 = Very low food security among children. **Households with children (htchild):** Identified using the standard USDA-ERS methodology: children are counted from person-level records (age ≤ 17 and relationship code > 47) before restricting to reference persons. `htchild = 1` if the household contains at least one child. **Shielding groups:** Among food-insecure households, a cross-classification of household type (with/without children) and child food security status, used for the new analysis comparing adult severity across household contexts. --- ## Key Variables from the CPS-FSS | Variable | Description | Values | |----------|-------------|--------| | `hrfs12m1` | 12-month HH food security status | 1=High/Marginal, 2=Low, 3=VLFS | | `hrfs12md` | 12-month HH food security (detailed) | 1=High, 2=Marginal, 3=Low, 4=VLFS | | `hrfs12mc` | 12-month child food security status | 1=High/Marginal, 2=Low, 3=VLFS | | `prtage` | Person's age | Integer | | `perrp` | Relationship to reference person | Codes >47 = children | | `numch` | Number of children in HH (constructed) | Count (from person-level data) | | `htchild` | HH has children (constructed) | 0=No, 1=Yes (numch > 0) | | `fs12ditem1`–`fs12ditem10` | Adult-referenced items (constructed) | 0=No, 1=Yes | | `fs12ditem11`–`fs12ditem18` | Child-referenced items (constructed) | 0=No, 1=Yes | --- ## Sources Rabbitt, M.P., Reed-Jones, M., Hales, L.J., Suttles, S., & Burke, M.P. (2025). *Household Food Security in the United States in 2024* (Report No. ERR-358). USDA, Economic Research Service. [https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=113622](https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=113622) Rabbitt, M.P., Reed-Jones, M., Hales, L.J., Suttles, S., & Burke, M.P. (2025). *Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2024* (Report No. AP-126). USDA, Economic Research Service. [https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=113633](https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=113633) Rabbitt, M.P. & Tanaka, K. (2020). Using a bifactor model to measure food insecurity in households with children. *Journal of Family and Economic Issues*, 41, 492–504. --- ## Contact For questions about the methodology or data: **Matthew P. Rabbitt, PhD** Email: matthew.p.rabbitt@gmail.com LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/matthew-p-rabbitt](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-p-rabbitt/) --- *#FoodSecurityFridays — Measuring What Matters*