The Price Is Not Right: Grocery Taxation, Race and Food Insecurity During COVID-19

Abstract

Using recent data from a national sample of 2.8 million households in the Household Pulse Survey (U.S. Census Bureau 2023), we examine how grocery taxes and race are related to food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We address three questions: How does a respondent’s household food insecurity differ in states that impose grocery taxes compared to states without grocery taxes? How does a respondent’s food insecurity differ by their race? How do trends in food insecurity across states with and without grocery taxes reflect governmental COVID-19 relief policies during this time? Using survey-weighted logistic regressions and controlling for background demographic and socio-economic variables, this research finds that food insecurity is higher for respondents living in grocery tax states compared to those in states without grocery taxes. As the pandemic progresses, a substantial gap in food insecurity is observed after the CARES Act legislation expired in mid-2021. Next, respondents in grocery tax states reported higher food insecurity compared to respondents in states without grocery taxes, and these differences in food security are largest for White and Black respondents. Moreover, we find that Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Other racial-ethnic group respondents have a higher log odds of food insecurity than their White counterparts, all else being equal.