An interesting research paper was recently released by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College that showed that food insecurity rates are higher in areas that have higher disability rates and this population has less access to food choices, especially healthy food options.
Many people may not think about food being related to disabled individuals, but many people who are on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits have limited income and assets and now it appears, less access to food. This should be a troubling sign that even people who receive disability benefits struggle to maintain basic life necessities.
Below is a portion of the paper issued by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The full findings of the paper can be viewed here.
In this paper, we account for access to food—by measuring the availability and accessibility of food stores and restaurants within each county—in the relationship between rates of disability and DI beneficiaries, and food insecurity. In general, we find that counties having a large share of residents with disabilities or high rates of DI beneficiaries are also limited in their availability and accessibility to food establishments. Digging deeper, we find that these same counties also have a larger share of food establishments that likely provide unhealthy food options. These include small grocery stores, convenience stores, limited-service restaurants, pharmacies, and gas stations. We find a strong correlation between many of these types of food establishments and disability and DI beneficiary rates. Importantly, we find a strong correlation between disability and food insecurity even after controlling for access to food. Our results should not be interpreted through a causal lens, however, as they only indicate a correlation between these factors. Linked data, more geographically-specific data, and more information on specific types of disabilities would all be ways to extend this line of research.
