Low-income households face ‘remarkable’ rise in food insecurity in K-shaped economy: New York Fed

The so-called " K-shaped economy " is now linked to "a remarkable increase in food insecurity," according to a new blog post by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Large segments of the population are facing high levels of financial strain, according to a post published on Wednesday, based on data from the Survey of Consumer Expectations. Among this group, lower- and middle-income households have been hardest hit by prolonged inflation . A greater share of their spending is allocated to goods that have seen prices soar since the pandemic, such as housing, food and utilities, causing them to cut back on groceries, the researchers found. A higher cost of living, combined with cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , or SNAP, "have led to renewed concerns about food insecurity among those at the bottom of the K-shape," the New York Fed researchers wrote. Households have struggled with the expiration of pandemic-era aid, including expanded SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps, researchers said. More recently, President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" tightened the work requirements for SNAP benefits . Nearly 14% of American households were food insecure in 2024, according to the most recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.