Public versus private food assistance: barriers to participation differ by age and ethnicity

To examine participation in the Food Stamp Program, food pantries, and soup kitchens and to identify reasons food-insecure households choose not to participate.

Cross-sectional retrospective cohort study.

In respondents' homes.

330 randomly selected low-income households (below 185% of poverty).

Participation in any of 3 public or private food assistance programs and barriers to participation in each program.

Chi-square tests of association between program participation and sociodemographic characteristics. Logistic regression tested for associations between program participation and ethnicity and between food security status and household composition while controlling for potential confounding factors.

Controlling for socioeconomic status, Black households are less than half as likely to receive food stamps (odds ratio [OR] = 0.49; P <.02) as Hispanic households. Hispanic households are more likely than non-Hispanic households to say that they feel uncomfortable using food pantries (P <.01). Elderly households are less than half as likely to receive food stamps (OR = 0.44; P =.04) as nonelderly households and are more likely to say that they feel uncomfortable receiving food stamps (P =.05).

Low-income households' perceptions of which programs are socially acceptable differ by race and age. Outreach for food stamps and private food assistance should accommodate these differences so that food-insecure households can benefit from all available food assistance.