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Food and Housing Insecurity in Nevada During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified concerns regarding food and housing insecurity in the United States, particularly among vulnerable populations. After the pandemic prompted a shutdown of nonessential businesses in Nevada, unemployment rose dramatically as the gaming, tourism, and hospitality industries struggled. This study analyzed the results of two telephone surveys of Nevada adults’ experiences in 2020 (n = 1000) and 2021 (n = 1002). The results demonstrate between 2020 and 2021 an 8.24 percentage point decline in food insecurity (FI) from 30.2% to 21.96% and a 12.58 percentage point increase in housing insecurity (HI) from 12.27% to 24.85%. Age, disability status, and certain categories of race/ethnicity and income were associated with both HI and FI in 2020, but disability was no longer significant in 2021. Instead, spouse/partner-status, living with children ≤ 18-years-old and receipt of SNAP benefits were significantly associated with FI in 2021. In particular, health status became a significant factor of both HI and FI. People of color experienced FI disparities compared to Whites. Asians/Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders were 3.22 times (95% CI 1.51, 6.86) more likely to experience FI in 2021 than Whites. A matched, longitudinal analysis also revealed that Whites experienced a significant 9.1 percentage point estimated decline in the probability of FI between 2020 and 2021. However, the reduction among non-White participants was statistically insignificant at 2.5 percentage points. Results indicate the importance of supporting the food and housing needs of people of color and individuals with disabilities. Further research should especially investigate the comparative FI rate among Asians/Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders in 2021 and offer solutions to the soaring prevalence of housing insecurity.

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Funding

This project was partially supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of a subaward totaling $3.4 million from the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health's Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity award. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. government.

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CC, MG, BL, TJG conceived of the research questions, CC, MG, BL, IKM, PU compiled measurement tools, L-CC and IM conducted statistical analysis, CC, MG, BL supervised the project, all authors were responsible for drafting and revising sections of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Courtney Coughenour.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Table 7 Association of selected factors with food insecurity in two samples of Nevadans from 2020 and 2021, including interaction effects of age by gender, gender by race at the average age, and race/ethnicity
Table 8 Interaction effects of age, gender, ethnicity categories on odds of food insecurity in two samples of Nevadans from 2020 to 2021
Table 9 Interaction effects of age, gender, ethnicity categories on odds of food insecurity in two samples of Nevadans from 2020 to 2021
Table 10 Association of selected factors with housing insecurity in two samples of Nevadans from 2020 to 2021, including interaction effects of age by gender, gender by race at the average age, and race/ethnicity
Table 11 Interaction effects of age, gender, ethnicity categories on odds of housing insecurity in two samples of Nevadans from 2020 to 2021
Table 12 Interaction effects of age, gender, ethnicity categories on odds of housing insecurity in two samples of Nevadans from 2020 to 2021

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Coughenour, C., Chien, LC., Gakh, M. et al. Food and Housing Insecurity in Nevada During the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Community Health 49, 296–313 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-023-01284-8

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