Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Food insecurity is a significant public health concern. In 2017, 1 in 6 children lived in a food insecure household, a rate that rises to nearly 1 in 3 among low-income families. Emerging evidence suggests that food insecurity in children’s early childhood years – birth to age 5 – may be particularly troubling. Young children who experience food insecurity – relative to their food-secure peers - enter kindergarten less ready for school on academic and social indicators (Johnson & Markowitz, 2018). Because early skills are predictive of later outcomes (e.g. Claessens et al., 2007; Moffitt et al., 2011) and early disparities in academic skills tend to persist (Reardon, 2011), identifying promising pathways for policy intervention is paramount.

Parental wellbeing (e.g., mental and physical health), parenting behaviors (e.g., parent-child interaction quality; cognitive stimulation and sensitivity), and access to and features of high-quality preschool are each policy amenable pathways that hold promise for helping to reduce the negative effects of early childhood food insecurity on children’s kindergarten skills (e.g., Johnson & Markowitz, 2018; Korenman et al., 2012; Zaslow et al., 2009). It is unknown however, whether and how these parent and preschool characteristics relate to the link between food insecurity and kindergarten skills.

We test for mediation of food insecurity’s effects on kindergarten skills by these parent and preschool characteristics using data from two large, national surveys: the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), and the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). The ECLS-B is a nationally representative sample of children born in the US in 2001 (analytic sampleN ≈ 2200-4500, depending on outcome); the FACES data are nationally representative of Head Start children and families (analytic sampleN ≈ 2000-2500, depending on outcome). We use the 2006 FACES for parity with the ECLS-B children, who were in Head Start and other preschool settings at the same time (2005-2006). Both datasets measured food insecurity, parenting and preschool characteristics, and children’s academic and social development prior to and in kindergarten.

Preliminary results from OLS regression models with robust family demographic controls suggest that food insecurity predicts increased parental depression and decreased quality of parent-child interactions, which in turn predict lower kindergarten skills; these results are mirrored across both datasets. Next steps include testing whether food insecurity is associated with selection into lower-quality preschool settings and lower parental engagement with preschool, both of which are expected to predict lower kindergarten skills.

Results will inform current debates around restricting eligibility for SNAP and WIC – which could increase food insecurity – and will identify points of entry for community and preschool settings to play a larger role in supporting child school readiness and success among families experiencing food insecurity.