Americans Are Skipping Meals Due to Soaring Costs

The price of food has jumped by 25% since the start of the pandemic — even more if you factor in the cost of a quick trip to the store, which takes into consideration the price of fuel. Now, a new study says there are some major ramifications.

Intuit Credit Karma, which provides information about financial products, says that more than one-quarter of the people it surveyed said they have skipped meals or sacrificed other spending due to rising costs. The survey of 2,011 adults was conducted online in the United States during the week of May 7. 

According to the survey, 28% said they are putting off paying for necessities, such as rent or other bills, to afford groceries — while 27% say they are occasionally skipping meals. Another 18% have applied for or have considered applying for food stamps and other types of assistance, and 15% rely on or have considered visiting food banks for their groceries. 

(The most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics show that 41.2 million Americans per month are receiving federal food benefits, with the average participant getting $230.88 monthly.) 

Even if they haven’t taken concrete steps to manage their food bills, the survey found a wide perception that prices are going up. When asked about inflation, four-fifths of those surveyed (80%) said they’ve seen the highest price increases when shopping for groceries, followed by gasoline (51%), utility bills (39%), housing, and dining out (both 27%).

“Food insecurity is a major issue in this country as millions of Americans don’t have enough food to eat or don’t have access to healthy food,” Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma, said in a statement.

The increases in costs “have put American households in precarious situations, especially low-earning households who have families to feed.”

Even though food inflation looks like it is moderating, “Americans are still facing rising costs for other necessities such as rent and gasoline, which could be counteracting their journey toward financial stability,” she said. 

According to the study, many are changing their food shopping habits. About 37% say they are now shopping at discount grocers versus big-name supermarkets. About one-quarter of respondents (26%) say they are buying less healthy food for themselves and their families because it is what they can afford. 

Intuit Credit Karma says this could be impacting shoppers’ mental health. One-fifth of respondents, or 21%, said they felt ashamed about their inability to afford groceries. The study found that a number of respondents are in a bind: More than half (53%) said they earn too much money to qualify for government assistance such as food stamps, but they do not have enough during the month to afford necessities. 

In other big-picture data, almost half of those surveyed, about 44%, said they feel financially unstable. The figure is even higher for people with household incomes of less than $50,000; about 56% said their finances felt rocky. 

There’s plenty of data to back up the responses. Since 2020, the Federal Reserve says grocery prices have risen 25%, leaving consumers — and even President Biden — fuming over food costs. And lately, supermarkets and big box stores such as Walmart, Target, Ald, and Amazon Fresh have been scrambling to implement price cuts. 

Still, an analysis by Yahoo Finance shows that a quick trip to the store is even more expensive if you factor in the cost of driving there. It estimates the expense for a bag of groceries has risen 31% since 2018. This is true even though food price inflation is moderating. It was up 1.2% in April, and prices are up 2.2% in 2024 overall. 

So, no matter what stores are doing, consumers’ reality is a world of higher prices and the sacrifices they are making to afford them.