Report: 1 in 6 Kentucky households struggle to afford enough food

BEREA, Ky. (WTVQ) – A new report out on hunger in America finds 17% percent of households in Kentucky struggle to buy enough food.

According to the report released by the Food Research & Action Center, a national anti-hunger advocacy group, Kentucky ranked 12th in the nation for food hardship, with more than 1 in 6 households reporting they had trouble putting food on the table.

Nationally, the report found that after several years of decline, the food hardship rate for all households increased from 15.1% in 2016 to 15.7% in 2017.

The food hardship rate for households with children is 1.3 times higher than for households without children.

The report finds, in Kentucky, the food hardship rate in households with children is 18.6% compared to the national rate of 16.1%.

The Southeast region of the U.S., in which Kentucky is included in this report, had the second-highest food hardship rate in 2017, behind the Southwest, at 17.1%.