Situation of food assistance users and the association with change in socioeconomic status during COVID-19 pandemic in Japan

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to understand the situation of the users of food assistance activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to examine the relationship with the changes in socioeconomic conditions.Methods A total of 33,004 (16,065 men and 16,939 men) people aged 20 or older who cooperated with an online survey in February 2021 were included in the analysis. The analysis was conducted by classifying users of one of the following types of food assistance as food assistance users and other users as non-users: eating on site (e.g., children's cafeteria), receiving food at a specific location (e.g., food pantry), or having food delivered to their home (e.g., emergency home food delivery). A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval (CI)) for the association between food assistance use and changes in socioeconomic status, which was assessed based on the employment status and household monthly income just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results The number of users of food assistance was 3,071 (9.3%). Of these, 1,549 (4.7%) were users of children's cafeterias, 1,296 (3.9%) were users of food pantries, and 2,236 (6.8%) were users of emergency home food delivery (with duplicate responses). The adjusted odds ratio for food assistance use was 1.47 (95% CI 1.28-1.70) for those with changes in employment status compared to those with no changes. The adjusted odds ratio for food assistance use was 1.89 (1.65-2.15) for those with reduced income and 1.67 (1.37-2.03) for those with increased household income compared to those with no changes. The adjusted odds ratios for food assistance use were higher for those with changes in employment status and/or household income than those with no changes in both.Conclusions One in ten individuals used food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was suggested that many of the users of food assistance had changed their employment status or household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, it will be necessary to establish a public-private system that can provide information on local food assistance to people whose socioeconomic status has changed rapidly.