Food Insecurity and Social Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Welfare State Regimes in 19 Countries

Abstract

We sought to determine whether a country's social policy configuration—its welfare state regime—is associated with food insecurity risk. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 2017 U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization individual-level food insecurity survey data from 19 countries (the most recent data available prior to COVID-19). Countries were categorized into three welfare state regimes: liberal (e.g., the United States), corporatist (e.g., Germany), or social democratic (e.g., Norway). Food insecurity probability, calibrated to an international reference standard, was calculated using a Rasch model. We used linear regression to compare food insecurity probability across regime types, adjusting for per-capita gross domestic product, age, gender, education, and household composition. There were 19,008 participants. The mean food insecurity probability was 0.067 (SD: 0.217). In adjusted analyses and compared with liberal regimes, food insecurity probability was lower in corporatist (risk difference: −0.039, 95% CI −0.066 to −0.011, p  =  .006) and social democratic regimes (risk difference: −0.037, 95% CI −0.062 to −0.012, p  =  .004). Social policy configuration is strongly associated with food insecurity risk. Social policy changes may help lower food insecurity risk in countries with high risk.